Kansas Concealed Carry: A Start
By Stewart Rhodes
http://stewart-rhodes.blogspot.com/
It is great that the people of Kansas now have some way to carry a weapon for self defense without risking going to prison, but frankly, the right to bear arms is just that: It is a right. As the fine folks at Gunowners of America put it:
"The Second Amendment guarantees that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ This means that law-abiding citizens should not need to beg the government for permission to carry a firearm. That would turn the "right" to bear arms into a mere "privilege."
By definition, anything that you need a permit for is not a right. It is a privilege granted by government which can be taken away as easily as given. For example, you don’t need a permit to comment on a blog, write a letter, article or book. You have a right to free speech. How is the bearing of arms any different? Don’t you have a right (a God-given or natural right) to do that as well?
So far, only one state in the Union, Vermont, truly respects the rights of its citizens to carry what they wish, where they wish, with no permission by the state necessary. This Kansas bill is a nice start for that state, but it is far from true recognition and respect for what is one of the most fundamental of human rights.
Stewart Rhodes
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E. Stewart Rhodes, ex-paratrooper, disabled vet, ex-firearms instructor, former Ron Paul staff member, Yale Law grad/Research Scholar, & Montana/Nevada lawyer. Stewart has written for Gerry Spence’s The Warrior, for moreliberty.org, writes the Enemy at the Gate column for S.W.A.T. Magazine, and is writing a book on the dangers of applying the laws of war to the American people in the "war on terror." Stewart is NOT a liberal, unless you want to consider him a classical liberal.