Theres plenty of common sense in the Constitution. Those that don't follow it are lacking.
Fine, pay $200 to vote. Pay $200 avoid warrantless searches of your home and vehicle. Pay $200 to practice your religion.
When you have to pay money to do it, you aren't exercising a right; you're asking your government for permission and paying for the privilege. Either we all have a God-given right to keep and bear arms in order to defend ourselves and our loved ones from harm or we have a privilege which our government has granted us and which can be revoked on a moment's notice. Pick one.
Code:
No. All this does is limit the scope of the decision. It is deliberately silent on the standard of review. Silence is silence.
It is an error to infer anything from silence..
Well, everyone should have a gun, right?
Everyone who is not otherwise prohibited should have to option to decide for themselves whether to have and carry a gun.
Fine, pay $200 to vote. Pay $200 avoid warrantless searches of your home and vehicle. Pay $200 to practice your religion.
When you have to pay money to do it, you aren't exercising a right; you're asking your government for permission and paying for the privilege. Either we all have a God-given right to keep and bear arms in order to defend ourselves and our loved ones from harm or we have a privilege which our government has granted us and which can be revoked on a moment's notice. Pick one.
Code:
Well, everyone should have a gun, right?
I'm going to take this another step and say no one, who is not in prison, a mental institution, etc, should be prohibited.Everyone who is not otherwise prohibited should have to option to decide for themselves whether to have and carry a gun.
Uh, yes you do
http://www.elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/index.html
(yes, I know enforcement isn't at all strict)
Everyone who is not otherwise prohibited should have to option to decide for themselves whether to have and carry a gun.
Spot on! Perfectly said as usual Mr. H.
I completely agree. The issue becomes how you determine the "otherwise prohibited" category.
Only thing I would add is to say "not otherwise prohibited" for an extremely good reason. Things like "well he got in a bar fight in 1973 and since then we decided that that's now a violent crime and they're prohibited for life" are blatantly contrary to the intent of the Second Amendment. Rather, they're excuses used by people who don't think anyone who isn't working for the government should be allowed to touch a gun to ban as many other people as possible from touching guns.
Outside of a murder conviction, I don't think there's too much else that should warrant an individual losing a core right like that without some sort of regular, transparent review by an impartial group.
Code:
You don't need a permit to assemble? Register to vote? The HQL is a pain in the arse but I don't see the unconstitutional argument going anywhere and I don't see those lawsuits going anywhere. Fingerprinting is the only part of it that is really strange and easily argued to be for public safety. (Not saying I agree, just saying it's a solid argument that they are likely to win.)
Better arguments are for shall issue vs. may issue and the right to self defense inside and outside of the home.
What's the Big Deal about Finger Printing, had to have it done when I joined the Corps and to get my clearances, oh and "what" I served 22 years to protect and uphold the constitution...The HQL is thwarting effort, Hell, CA has a "Bullet Button", NY has a funky buttstock, MA God Knows??? I would be more worried about not being able to buy a Big Gulp than paying 200 buck to have a Pistol....
Am I missing something? You guys are arguing that you're ok with the HQL?!? No wonder MD eats shit all the time when it comes to gun laws.
You don't need a permit to assemble? Register to vote? The HQL is a pain in the arse but I don't see the unconstitutional argument going anywhere and I don't see those lawsuits going anywhere. Fingerprinting is the only part of it that is really strange and easily argued to be for public safety. (Not saying I agree, just saying it's a solid argument that they are likely to win.)
Better arguments are for shall issue vs. may issue and the right to self defense inside and outside of the home.
Good. I think people should have to pay around $400 to vote. Should solve a lot of the problems in the Nation when those on welfare can no longer vote.
Notice that what Mr. H said is that the HQL is in essence a poll tax. There is a fee related to the HQL. Last I checked, there is no fee related to registering to vote. Is there a fee for a permit to assemble?
What is your objective measure of prohibitively expensive and on what do you base that? For me a $200.00 hit in the wallet to get my HQL may not be a big deal, but to someone else (single mother of 3 trying to support her family) it very well could be the deal breaker.
How'd you get by at $200? We paid $60 for finger prints, $50 for MSP application, and I think the class was $135. And make that times 2 when we add in the wife too. We did not have this garbage when we moved here 20 years ago... So we are looking to move West... just like Larry Hogan's TV ads said about people wanting to leave Maryland.