Thank you to those who ignored the rules

Back when I first began carrying a gun, it wasn’t “legal”, but I had no clue that it wasn’t. I didn’t think to check or ask about that. My boss suggested I get a gun (if I didn’t have one) and start carrying at work. My co-workers all carried. Not one person even brought up government rules.

I’m glad for that.

If I had thought about “legality” I might have hesitated. I might have acted guilty.

As it was, I understood that “concealed” meant "don’t talk about it" as much as it meant don’t flash it to people. So I didn’t. It just became a part of getting dressed and starting my day.

Now the rules have changed, but the ethics of it haven’t. I’ll be forever grateful to the people who encouraged me to begin carrying but didn’t take political criminals’ opinions into account.

It’s how I always try to approach liberty. As I say, “Assume liberty”, don’t assume you’re government property.

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Is there gold in them there vaults?

Is there gold in Fort Knox? If so, is it more than a plating of gold over tungsten bars?

My assumption, for decades, has been that either there's no gold there or any gold within is whatever amount it takes to fool anyone who walks through and looks.

I would have to take a random sample bar, test its weight to volume against real gold, cut it in half to see what's in the middle, and then do the same for other random bars before I would be convinced that there may be actual gold bars in Fort Knox.

Or maybe it holds gold-foil-wrapped chocolate bars.

I would probably never be fully convinced it holds as much gold as the feral government claims. I don't trust government, or anyone acting on behalf of government, to tell the truth. Why would I?

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Choosing which flavor of tyranny to live under

I've lived in a variety of places- places with widely different cultures. (Mostly rural, but still different.) I was okay in all of them, even though I was more comfortable in some than in others.

Personally, speaking only for myself, I am more comfortable in a "conservative" territory than in a "liberal" place. 

This doesn't mean I don't get angry at the stupid anti-liberty nonsense that is imposed in "conservative" places-- I do, and I speak out-- but those things don't generally affect me on a personal level. It's still enemy territory, but it's slightly more tolerable for me.

I don't use Cannabis, I'm not gay. I'm not an immigrant. Legislation that violates the rights of those affected is abhorrent to me, but it doesn't really impact my day-to-day life. I'm lucky in that way.

Oh, and I'm not looking for an abortion, either.

The one thing that makes the biggest difference in my own life is that my natural human right to own and to carry a weapon not be violated. Of course, it is violated everywhere to some extent, but not as badly here, now, as in other places I've lived at other times.

I loved Colorado, but I'm glad I no longer live there. The local sheriff was a flaming turd, but I never had a run-in with him. The bigger issue is that their current anti-gun rules are simply too oppressive. Even guns I bought when I lived there would probably be illegal to buy now. The place where I lived was pretty good about ignoring Denver's bad rules when I lived there, but from what I've heard, even they have drifted far left since. I don't think I could live there anymore, and I'd even be hesitant to visit now (even if I avoid the authoritarian slime pit of Denver). 

Pennsylvanians seemed to love guns, but they also were eager to lick jackboots and prove they were worthy to own them. And the local sheriff once threatened me with arrest if he ever caught me carrying a gun outside my door. Which was illegal for him to do, but I guess he was accustomed to getting away with it.

So I feel more free, and safer in exercising the rights I normally exercise, here than in other places I've lived. Especially now.

I realize that this is only my experience. Others who have different priorities would choose differently. That's okay. As people who value liberty in a world that hates and fears it, we have to figure out what works for us. At least, for now. I look forward to the day when we don't have to choose which flavor of tyranny we can tolerate.

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