Liberty missing from July 4 holiday

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for July 2, 2023)

I miss Independence Day.

Independence Day was once a celebration of liberty; a tribute to revolution, insurrection, and secession. It has mutated into a day to worship government and its employees. It has become a parody of itself.

Maybe this is why it is more commonly known today as "the Fourth of July". This downplays its anti-government roots and dismisses independence.

Of course, most of this happened before I was born, so what I miss is the idea of an Independence Day I've never really known, at least not in mainstream society. One I celebrate by myself if no one else joins me.

For a watered-down Fourth of July we are distracted with firework displays presented by government, and often told we aren't allowed to independently shoot off fireworks.

We are encouraged to celebrate government employees rather than the people who declared independence by violently defying government and its employees.

Where is liberty in this holiday? It's missing.

No one even notices liberty isn't welcome at the celebration. Perhaps this is because people neither understand nor want liberty.

Why wouldn't people want liberty?

I suspect it's because they are satisfied with freedom. It may also be because responsibility is half of liberty and they aren't interested in that part.

Freedom means doing what you want. If what you want to do fits within what government allows, you are free enough-- you may even incorrectly imagine you are enjoying liberty.

Liberty is the freedom to do everything you have a right to do, regardless of government's opinions on the matter. Liberty is freedom tempered with responsibility-- you only have the responsibility to not violate other people's rights.

Government wants your freedom limited by its rules, instead. This isn't liberty, but is more like being a pet; dependent on the kindness and tolerance of your master. Living only at his whim.

Are most people so attached to government that they aren't interested in liberty? It seems so. Liberty and political government are completely incompatible. Government can allow a certain amount of freedom to exist, but liberty is an all-or-nothing deal. Liberty can't be restrained by government rules without being destroyed. There is no liberty when government is allowed to exist. Most people apparently love Big Brother and his false promise of safety more than liberty.

Not me. I have no use for Big Brother. I love liberty and I miss Independence Day.

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Real "Gun crimes" are committed by government

First, a little ad to pay the bills-- I really need an infusion of money for some unexpected expenses (on top of the expected ones). PayPal or Venmo are faster, so that would be preferable. Thank you, and onward to the content.

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Every single gun "law" is unconstitutional. Every one of them, from 1934's National Firearms Act, to the Gun Control Act of 1968, to whatever new rule gets imposed next year. Or 100 years from now. They are all unconstitutional in every detail.

Examples? Rules against machine guns, rules imposing background check requirements and Form 4473, forcing gun sellers to get government Federal Firearms Licenses and keep records of sales, saying who can (and can't) manufacture weapons or what kind, any rule that allows a cop to take your gun when others wouldn't have the right to do so. No one has the right to disarm anyone who isn't posing a credible threat at this moment. There is no such thing as a constitutional "law" concerning restricting weapons for individuals. Not even one example. 

Either the courts agree or the courts are wrong. That's just the way it is.

Maybe the "justices" are cowards or maybe they are crooks who want to ensure government power, but either way, they are wrong. The same goes for the quisling surrender-monkeys of the NRA who repeatedly sell out gun owners in exchange for a place at the table and a pat on the head by the political criminals (including police) they fawn over.

The right to own and to carry weapons doesn't come from the Constitution-- the Constitution simply recognizes a right that has always existed everywhere and made it a crime to violate that right.

The Second Amendment doesn't "apply" to guns; it restricts what government is allowed to do. And restricting guns or other weapons in any way is completely off the table. Long guns, short guns, sawed-off guns, braced pistols, semi-automatic, fully-automatic, metal projectile or plasma blast, suppressed, with any attachment, in any configuration. Bullet types, feeding device capacity or function, caliber, construction method or material. detectability or invisibility, "silencers", or any alteration to any of the same. Government is prohibited from expressing an opinion, in legislation or by rule, on weapons owned and/or carried by the population. Including inside government facilities. Point to where the Second Amendment makes an exception when some government employee somewhere is scared or thinks it is a "common sense" policy.

If the courts allow any such anti-gun rule to stand, the courts are wrong.

There is no wiggle room. There are no exceptions. There is no justification that survives scrutiny. None.

And, as always, natural human rights are superior to any document. Such as the natural human right to own and to carry weapons of any kind, everywhere, without asking government permission, or even letting government know. 

If the Constitution actually permitted any government anti-gun rule (which it doesn't) the Constitution would be wrong. Just as it is wrong when it "authorizes" taxation. Government can't be "authorized" to violate rights. No one, and no collective, can be.

The anti-gun bigots (in government, in government's corporate media, or freelance) will lie, argue, and try to shame us, They will make up historical "facts" to prove their case. They are forced to lie to prop up their side because the truth isn't with them. They will cherry-pick statistics, or point to what other governments have done and gotten away with. They will cry and get melodramatic over the innocent deaths their anti-gun/anti-defense policies guarantee, and try to blame the people who didn't do it. Their crocodile tears don't sway me. They are the villains. No matter if they have good intentions and really believe they are right. It is never right to violate the rights of individuals. I don't care about a villain's opinion on what I should be "allowed" to do. I am not government property. The lowest individual is superior to any government employee or agent. Governments have no rights; only individuals do. And the "right" to violate the rights of individuals doesn't exist... it can't exist. Government thugs can believe otherwise, but it won't change the truth.

The power to commit evil and get away with it doesn't prove the evildoer is in the right. It just proves that sometimes evil has power.

If you run across any anti-gun bigot doing what they tend to do, feel free to copy and paste any part of this to tell her to jump in a lake. It won't change her mind, but maybe some onlookers will see it and be empowered to resist her lies and calls for enslavement.

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