Column by Zach Hester
Here we are, people. We are barreling down a path of change that flies in the face of conventional wisdom and our Constitution.
After a worthless and unpopular second term from our previous president, we are now finding the change we so haughtily sought after and voted for in November is nothing more than a continued bastardization of our previous country—which as far as I’m concerned started with the signing into law of the Patriot Act on Oct. 26, 2001. Our civil liberties are being tested, pulled and plucked from us. Whether it is in our local community with the campuswide cigarette ban or on the national stage with the new HR 45 Blair Holt’s Firearm Act, we are losing our rights as individuals from the powers that be.
The HR 45 bill states that—among other things—any and all hopeful gun owners must be thumb printed at their local police station, pass an exam and forfeit over all health and medical records to the state. These are all obviously inconveniences meant to keep an eye on gun- owning, law abiding citizens. This bill goes on, though, and its brashness starts to border on audacity. The government may, at any time during business hours, do an unwarranted search of any gun owner’s home without provocation. This is a bad beat and a slippery slope we’re treading on.
More and more, the government is finding it acceptable to infringe upon the American citizen’s sovereignty that is so very much unique to this country. It is a bipartisan movement in Washington that is not biased toward one party, but rather our government as a whole. As America grows and ages, it is inevitable that tragedies will strike. It is our job as citizens not to allow our freedoms and civil liberties to vanquish in the shadows of fear mongering and catastrophe. Benjamin Franklin was most eloquent in his line of thought, “those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.†We have allowed our liberty to go by the wayside once already this decade with the passing of the Patriot Act during the turmoil that followed Sept. 11. Lets let it end there.
Last week, Nate Kremer wrote an opinion article imploring his fellow peers to get out and make a difference, regardless of their political agenda. I now do the same. If this bill at all frightens, behooves, or moves you, please get in contact with your local legislation and let your voice be heard. I’ll now leave you with Lenin’s words to ponder: “A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie.â€
Zach Hester is an English senior. E-mail opinions@kykernel.com.
Dear friend,
Guns hurt but I appreciate the shout-out. Keep it up.
Your Friend,
Nate
Good article Zach. This bill is lunacy. I can understand the Liberal agenda of strict gun laws, but unwarranted searches of gun owners’ homes is tyrannical. Unfortunately, I believe the ultra liberals will vote for this Bill. This goes farther than gun restrictions, it takes our government to the level of Big Brother.
right on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHoOfcFM33c&NR=1
Nate, guns hurt???? So do cars when they run over people, So do hot frying pans when you accidentally touch them. So does alcohol when you drink it every- day to excess. So does food when some people overeat. Let’s just outlaw or regulate everything so we can’t do anything unless big brother approves. You freakin’ liberal. Let me hear from you guy!
Jimmy B,
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to revel in your eloquence. You are undoubtedly right, hot frying pans do hurt when touched, but I didn’t believe you until I tried it. I was actually just guessing about guns hurting, and for my unwarranted assumption, I offer a sincere apology.
Your potential friend,
Nate
It is so far from me that the Government wants to take away one of our rights. There is no way we wil be able to protect ourselves and our families. Since when does the Governemnt have the right to invade “our privacy”? Where did Democracy go? The last I knew we were still a “Free Nation”.
We have the right to bear arms; that did not change inless I missed something. How the HELL can we defend ourselves; (pray we aren’t faced with the situation) . I’m thouroughly FED UP being told what I can and can’t do. Our “elected officials” must believe they are “GOD”. Wake up and look at what “they” are doing to the U.S.A. and each individual living here. “WE” have “rights” also- DON’T FORGET IT!
i loved your article because i agree with what you’re saying so much
I’m sick and tired of these damned ultraliberals wanting to take away our civil rights. if i want a gun by god i should be able to have one. this country was founded on liberties of freedom, you can’t take them away now. pretty soon i’m expecting these slick, smooth talking politicians to take away my religion, thinking they’re so smart because they went to harvard. well i tell you what i’ll take a cold piece of steel over them stack of books anyday. you just wait and see, America the beautiful, we have to start protecting the things we care about in this world and not take them for granted. without my guns, and my religion, i’m unable to cling to anything, except this here monkey wrench.
I would like to meet whoever posted that ^.
This is exactly right! I love the title which goes with Benjamin Franklin’s quote “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
We have forgotten out founding fathers ideas and it is those ideas that we need to go back to to make America great like it used to be.
Write a collaborative letter to congress against H.R. 45
Tell Congress why H.R. 45 stinks (Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009)! GovTrack.us, the nonpartisan legislative tracking website, launched a first-of-its-kind experiment last week to see if Americans can come together to write a collaborative letter to Congress. Using the MixedInk.com tool, citizens can write, re-mix, and rate the best letter opposing H.R. 45. In late April, GovTrack will take the top-rated letter and deliver it in person to appropriate congressmen.
The bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45
The letter: http://mixedink.com/GovTrackUs/111Hr45Against
A large problem facing Congress is their inability to keep up with constituent communication, as the rise of electronic communications to Congress has far outpaced the increases in their office budgets. One of the many ways to address this problem is to have constituents come together on a single letter, an aggregated communication. Petitions were the aggregated letter of the past. In the future, we will see the letter actually being written collaboratively, and this is what GovTrack’s experiment is about.
More information on the experiment can be found here:
http://www.govtrack.us/blog/2009/03/16/mixedink-experiment-a-collaborative-letter-to-congress-on-hr-45/
GovTrack.us is an independent, nonpartisan, noncommercial website whose aim is to use technology to make innovations in civic life.
Zach clearly plagiarized part of his articles… way to go dude.