My two cents on the prohibition of guns

I just unsubscribed from the boldprogressives.org mailing list.  Why?  Because I received a message from them asking me to join their push to pressure lawmakers to pass "common-sense gun legislation".  That's a fancy way of saying "make it harder for people to get guns that can kill other people".

Although I lean progressive, I'm also for increased freedom.  That means I'm opposed to less freedom.

I want everyone to have the freedom to do whatever they choose so long as it doesn't violate someone else.  Owning a gun - any kind of gun - violates no one in and of itself.  It's how the gun is used that carries that potential.  I was under the impression murder is already illegal. Prohibition is by definition the restriction of freedom.  I'm not down with that.

Listen, unlike many of my friends, I don't dig guns.  I don't own one, and I rarely fire one.  I'm a dude who believes that if you want peace you must be peaceful.  But I'm not going to join anyone in the push to keep other people from a freedom so important the founders of the American nation saw only freedom of expression as more important within the Bill of Rights.

Are you aware that a man in China attacked a bunch of school children with a knife the day before the Connecticut shooting?  People in America are "up in arms" over guns.  Kind of ironic, huh?  They want to ban this gun or that gun.  Hell, what if they were successful in banning ALL guns?!  Would they try to outlaw cutlery next?  That's just ridiculous.  People need it to cook.  Even if they did, the darkness in human hearts is what kills people.  Not weapons.  Weapons are just tools.  Take one away, another can easily be chosen.  Easily.

Besides, when has prohibition of anything ever worked?  How's that working for pot smokers?  How did that work with booze in the '20s?  We got the gang wars.  Prohibition of drugs today fuels the same thing, just making a few people rich off the danger.  The danger that is created by prohibition!  The danger that would be eliminated by ending prohibition.

Also, it is my spiritual belief that we are all born sovereign beings.  You do not have the right to remove choices from other sovereign beings, much in the same way our country does not have the right to dictate what another sovereign nation can or cannot do.  Yet, we operate as if we do.

Obviously there has been a noticeable surge in incidents of gun violence.  It's an understandable knee-jerk reaction to think we should restrict access to guns to keep these things from happening.  I just don't think less freedom is going to make us safer, and I believe there's evidence to show that any time society tries to restrict something it simply adds to the danger attached to whatever it is.  It makes me sad to see good people caught up in the furor over guns.  Guns didn't kill the those poor kids in Connecticut.  Adam Lanza did.  At least that's what we've been told.  We've also been told he killed himself.  If his mission was suicide, he could have made a home made bomb and accomplished the same thing.  He could have slit their throats with a cook's knife before jumping off a bridge.

Outlawing guns will never keep guns away from killers any more than the Drug War has kept pot away from college students.  It will just make them more expensive, and more dangerous - while making every one of us just a little less free to make our own choices.  

Particulates Matter - Smoking Bans Render Proof of Secondhand Smoke Danger

If you've been on the fence about whether secondhand smoke is really all that dangerous, even to nonsmokers, your feet are about to touch down on the side of "DUH!"

CNN.com posted a story Tuesday on a correlation between communities that have enacted smoking bans and a decrease in heart attacks. The results are pulled from two large studies looking at communities both in North America and Europe, and the results are HUGE!

After just one year under the public smoking ban, cities experienced an average 17% decline in heart attacks. The LOWEST decline was 15%! That's after one measley year. After three years the average decline in heart attacks was 26%, with some places experiencing up to a 36% reduction.

This is grade school math, kids.

NO PUBLIC SMOKING = UP TO 1 in 3 HEART ATTACKS NEVER HAPPENS

Something else that can be deduced from this data: You parents who claim to love your children need to stop smoking around them YESTERDAY! This is all the proof you need to confirm secondhand smoke kills. 'Cause guess what else those studies learned: Those who benefitted most from smoking bans - women, nonsmokers, and young people.

"How harmful is secondhand smoke? Nonsmokers have a 25 percent to 30 percent higher risk of heart attack if they inhale smoke at home or at work, and smoke has been shown to affect heart health within minutes," says Dr. David Meyers of the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

"We can measure chemical changes within 20 minutes," he says. "The changes that occur primarily involve the clotting system. Basically, exposure to smoke makes your blood sticky and real clot-y and that's what causes heart attacks."

How do those chemicals get into the body? Not just by inhalation! Smoke is made up of tiny little particles. Those particles stick to every surface with which they come in contact. Smoke in your car, get it all over everything. Smoke in your house, get it all over everything. If you can smell it, it's there. Someone comes along and touches anything and WHAM! Heart attack risk just went up by a double-digit percentage.

It's fucking science.

So pull your damn head out of your ass and stop pretending you care about anyone other than yourself if you think you have the right to smoke around anyone or anything someone else might come into contact with. Because you don't.

It's your karma, bitches. Smoke at your own risk. And everyone else's.