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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 :::
Regarding Eric's most recent entry, I'll start by mentioning that I don't disagree that the NRA is a civil rights organization, but I don't think of them as such -- I think of them as more of a consumer safety group. Not because of their lobbying to allow consumers to protect themselves, but because of the gun-safety programs they run, and the clear safety-conciousness and responsibility-approaching-paranoia of their members. When I refer to someone as "not NRA material", I'm generally referring to someone behaving irresponsibly with a gun, not to someone who wants to confiscate guns. I think the average supporter of gun control would be surprised that a typical NRA-affiliated gun-club member adheres to the following three rules:- Keep the gun pointed away from all people, and anything else the shooting of which would be considered disastrous (the ceiling is considered okay, even though one generally would prefer not to shoot the ceiling)
- Keep the gun unloaded until you plan to fire it
- Keep your finger off the trigger until you plan to fire it
Rule 2 is obviously loosened for guns kept for self-defence. But at the gun club, anyway, one is expected to adhere to all three rules, even though any one of them should suffice.
Regarding "evaluating policies by whether they advance ... conservative causes," I have to admit that my current position on gay marriage is "whatever helps elect Republicans". The reason I want Republicans elected, though, is that I think they're usually more likely to advance human welfare than Democrats.
Regarding "boundaries on the political", I am certainly uncomfortable with the notion that the individual has no refuge. It was along these lines that I developed my belief that my brother were appalled by antitrust laws, rather than merely judging them unwise (incidentally, I was reminded within the last hour of an anti-trust merger-prevention I tentatively supported: the attempt by Amazon.com to buy Ingram). I suspect that the author was thinking of something along the lines of privacy.
::: posted by Steven at 9:26 AM
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