It has been a long time since I have been surprised by the sight of someone with a gun. Yesterday, on a bus, the person sitting across from me took a gun out from under their jacket, and started checking it out.
I will admit that I am not a very trusting person. I wake up from my daydreams when I notice that the clerk at the supermarket register is resorting to a chart to identify a price for some of my produce sitting on the scale. I have no faith that they will correctly identify the type of onion, mushroom or greens that I am buying. I am also sure that the supermarket powers that be have listed dried Shiitake mushrooms first under "mushrooms", filaments of Saffron (botanical name crocus sativus, is the most expensive spice in the world) under "salad greens" and shallots under the category "onions".
The Second Amendment holds the distinction of being the only amendment to the Bill of Rights that essentially goes unenforced. The U.S. Supreme Court has never struck down any piece of legislation on Second Amendment grounds, in part because justices have disagreed on whether the amendment is intended to protect the right to bear arms as an individual right, or as a component of the "well-regulated militia."
Now, the individual handling the gun across from me on the bus could have been a plain clothes detective or a psychotic crack head. If he was an "under cover" agent, the cologne that smelled like cheap wine was a nice touch!
Among the laws that might pass constitutional muster, Judge Alito recently wrote: “Prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”
I don't see "commercial buses" in the list. I doubt that sanity will be restored in my lifetime. I never have believed that the founding fathers intended that every nut case in every neighborhood had a right to carry a weapon that could kill an elephant from a thousand yards. If one watches the History Channel one night a week for a couple of months, the original intent of Second Amendment should be clear. Having been oppressed by a professional army, the founding fathers of the United States had no use for establishing one of their own. Instead, they decided that an armed citizenry makes the best army of all. General George Washington created regulation for the aforementioned "well-regulated militia," which would consist of every able-bodied man in the country.
“The idea that deadly weapons pose a distinctive threat to the social order — and that reasonable restrictions on their usage therefore impose an acceptable burden on one’s personal liberty — is as old as the Republic,” departing Justice John Paul Stevens wrote. I will miss you Judge.
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I am by no means ready to die! So, with that fact established, let's begin at the beginning: See links for all the Genesis posts to date: Genesis Through My Eyes
In my not too distant past, if I were to see a street person, a bum, sleeping in a door front or on a park bench, I would have kept my distance and perhaps shrugged my shoulders.: He had the "smarts" to ask someone where to go, I didn't
Fortune has allowed me to come full circle and return to my earlier interest in photography. I am at that age were some weight loss would be beneficial. I certainly don't believe all photographers need to starve, but my initial goals are realistic, if not humble. The industry has changed tremendously, but the possibilities are unlimited. I am grateful that my parents' gave me a generic name. It's allowed me to explore numerous paths unhindered.
"I continue to seek exquisite beauty in my images, exploring all techniques, old and new".
web blog: Epicurean Health
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