Column for June 7, 2012

Why is someone from New York City that is worth an estimated $22 billion trying to affect gun rights in North Carolina?  Because some people just can’t stand not being able to control your life.  They think that they know more about how to properly run your life than you do.  Then again, Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, already thinks that he knows more about health, public safety,  and what is right for New Yorkers’ diets than they do.  Now he is working to force his whack job, leftist, totalitarian views on us here in North Carolina.

Once I heard about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman incident in Florida, I predicted that gun Nazis would attempt to use that incident to repeal gun rights legislation everywhere.  Sure enough, here comes the deluge.  Michael Bloomberg, along with the NAACP and other leftist (remember, the Nazis were leftist socialists, not right wingers) groups are working with a group called “Second Chance on Shoot First”.  According to that group’s own web site, they are “committed to raising awareness about Shoot First and other unsafe, reckless gun laws”.  Of course there are no such things as “shoot first laws” in North Carolina and 25 other states that have enacted The Castle Doctrine or Stand Your Ground laws.  Liberals are attempting to mischaracterize laws that allow you to reasonably defend yourself against intruders.

Keep in mind that the Trayvon Martin killing is still fresh in the news, now that George Zimmerman has been arrested with his bond revoked.  I am not a supporter of either Zimmerman or the Martin followers.  I am a supporter of the truth, regardless of what it is.  Florida does not have a problem with its laws.  It had an incident with either a teenage punk that attacked a zealous community watch volunteer, or a community watch zealot that inappropriately shot a teenager.  There was nothing inherent to the Florida law that caused the shooting.  If Zimmerman is at fault, then let him have his day in court and let the legal system takes its course.  If he was a victim then let the legal system take its course and stop crucifying him in the court of public opinion.  Above all, let us not have a knee jerk reaction to and incorrectly represent the law.

Aside from the idea of protecting the public against non-existent vigilante acts, Michael Bloomberg et al are simply trying to curb your personal freedom.  The more freedom you have, the less control government has over you.  This is the same Mayor Michael Bloomberg that has already made sure that New York City maintains strict gun control laws, has banned the use of trans-fats at restaurants, and is attempting to ban all fountain soda cups larger than 16 ounces.  This is all in the name of protecting the public against their own stupidity and promoting health.  The ideas of personal liberty and responsibility have been forsaken.  Limiting the size soft drink one can buy?  Really??  If that is not the epitome of intrusive government control, I don’t know what is.  If control freaks like that want to limit how much sugar you are allowed to consume by law, where does it end?  It certainly will extend to your right to keep and bear arms, since that right was under assault long before limits on soda consumption.

I have ceased to be amazed by people telling outright lies in order to curtail our rights in this country.  I watched the Trayvon Martin case get politicized by race, poverty, and gun control pimps since the incident happened, mostly with the use of slander, hyperbole, and false information.   We are now seeing this same case being used against responsible gun owners in North Carolina by a billionaire mayor 500 miles away.  Sorry, but my right to defend my life is worth far more than any right that some criminal thinks he has to take my life.  

Unfortunately, at least fourteen representatives to the NC House have signed on to HB1192, which is designed to repeal the Castle Doctrine in North Carolina.  The Castle Doctrine is a common sense law that allows people to reasonably use deadly force when defending themselves inside their own homes.  Not surprisingly, the Democrat leadership seems to be on board with this bill.

Why do politicians think that they know so much more than you do, are better at deciding how you should lead your life than you are, and have to protect you from yourself according to their own whimsical dictates?  When did we lose the idea of personal responsibility and personal freedom?  I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want some wealthy politician that can afford armed security guards telling me how to defend myself, much less how much soda I can order when visiting The Big Apple.