Malicious ‘Compliance’

While the Obamas remain on their tax-funded ‘free’ tropical vacation, Internet chatter drones on over what form his reported gun control by imperial diktat will take. Based on unsourced leaks, the most likely initial act will be to redefine those in the business of selling firearms to include darned near everyone. I myself have suggested that ― as the FAA did with toy drones, and the EPA did with CO2 ― he might even redefine some firearms to include them as NFA items. After all, the ATF once did that very thing with a shoelace.

Possibly the best way to deal with such efforts to render more honest people helpless is simple noncompliance: No. Your move.

And there is malicious compliance. These are just some idle thoughts of my own on the best way to ensure you’ve complied with all the possible rules; certainly not official TZP policy (it isn’t as if I’m an officer of the company).

You’re suddenly a ‘dealer’ in the eyes of the law(less)? You’ll need a six month supply of those free 4473s from the ATF. Naturally, all of you anticipate Cabela’s-scale business, right?

You’ll need to phone in your NICS checks, too. 1-877-FBI-NICS (1-877-324-6427) and selecting Menu Option 2, then Option 5, or by fax at (888) 550-6427. Better safe than sorry; you should call it in every time a ‘customer’ wants to handle a gun (you’ll need to know if he’s a felon before he touches it, you know). And call yourself in when he hands it back. And remember, you’re doing Cabela’s-scale business. Constantly. From “8 a.m. and 1 a.m. ET, 7 days a week”. All of you.

If some devices get reclassified as NFA, it might be a good idea for every single gun owner in America (absurdly lowball estimates of 60 million to a hopeful 120 million) to ensure none of their property is affected. Remember that shoestring.

Send letters demanding clarification to the ATF’s Firearms Technology Branch (Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division 244 Needy Road Martinsburg, Suite 1600 West Virginia 25405 USA, E-mail address: fire_tech@atf.gov, Voice: 304-616-4300, Fax number: 304-616-4301). One item per letter; you’ll want separate files should you be inspected, to match paperwork with item. Probably you should check on each of your individual magazines, too. Airguns, blowpipes, bows, your potato cannon. Junior’s Nerf guns. All of them. It would be a shame if you made typos so that you had to send multiple letters per item; just timestamp them so the FTB boys can sort out the most recent version.

Stick to snailmail to ensure a legal paper trail.  Keep copies.

All 60-120 million of you. As an extra benefit, imagine the coituscluster at the Martinsburg Post Office; you’re providing job security for USPS workers.

Registration is another bugaboo that never quite seems to go away; California, New York, Connecticut… And now we have HR 4269 (the new ‘assault weapon’ ban bill). That one grandfathers some weapons. It isn’t hard to imagine a registration mandate being added by amendment. How else can they be sure that AK-15 you have is one of the legal ones?

Register. Register early. Register often. See typos above, danr my clumys fingesr. Possibly you even own 544,000 of those buggers. With standard capacity magazines in proportion. Don’t forget shoestrings.

GIGO.

Of course, you’ll have to give them your address on all those classification (and maybe registration) letters. If you’re like me, you may get mixed up on your home address. This tool can help you with that.

Heck, while you’re at it, go ahead and register a couple million potentially existent drones with the FAA.

No. Your move,” is easier, but compliance might be more fun.

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Just follow the money

I wrote recently about Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s unilateral move to ban reciprocity. Virginia, according to Herring’s diktat, will no longer recognize concealed carry permits from 25 other states.

The reaction from pro-rights advocates has been vicious, and in retaliation, the Virginia GOP has moved to defund Terry McAwful’s executive protection unit. Virginia state senator Bill Carrico proposed a budget amendment that could strip the anti-gun McAwful, who apparently has no problem working to disarm the very people who are the source of his power, and who has no problem using those same taxpayers’ money to protect his own worthless hide, of his protective detail. “If he’s so afraid of guns,”Carrico said, “then I’m not going to surround him with armed state policemen.”

However, it is instructive to see to whom McAwful and Herring are truly beholden, and John Richardson at No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money did just that.

Would it surprise anyone to know that both McAwful and Herring are beholden in no small part to former New York mayor and statist imbecile Michael Bloomberg? I didn’t think so.

Lo and behold the top donor to his campaign for Attorney General was none other than Independence USA PAC. They gave $1,292,417 of in-kind donations to his campaign. The money went for media production and advertising buys. To put this into perspective, the next two highest donors gave approximately half this amount each. The only candidate to get more money from that PAC was Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA).

Bloomberg-2-777x437And would it surprise anyone to know that Independence USA PAC is Bloomberg’s personal vendetta against our Second Amendment rights, and is dedicated to helping to elect candidates who support stricter gun-control laws? It was founded in October 2012 by Michael Bloomberg, and, so far, has been entirely funded by the former New York City mayor, according to FactCheck.org.

When your politicians are paid for by nosy, authoritarian, meddling nanny statists this is what you can expect. Bloomberg bought himself Virginia’s governor and attorney general. Now all he needs to do is say the word, and they will bend over.

Meanwhile, criminals will continue to carry Glocks in their sagging pants, while law-abiding citizens from out of state will simply switch to open carry, as is legal all over the Commonwealth.

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Oh, it’s probably nothing…

Dear Aharon,

I’m sorry to bother you again. But Hanukkah and Christmas are both over and this year it just seems like I’ve seen more than a few things that bother me. I’m really trying to be understanding, but I guess some of this just eludes me and I was kind of hoping you could help me clear it up.

In the America I grew up in, it seemed like December was always just such a joyous time of year. There is Hanukkah, with parties and dreidels and Christmas with Santa and trees and gifts. Of course I know that Hanukkah is not about gelt, dreidels, latkas and sufganiyot. I know Christmas isn’t about gifts, trees and hot chocolate.

Hanukkah was about the freedom to be a Jew, practice your religion and live. All at the same time. The Greeks weren’t so interested in killing the Jews prior to the Maccabbean rebellion as forcing assimilation. As long as you were willing to give up the practice of Judaism as commanded by G-d through the Torah and adopt the Hellenistic ways, as many of the more liberal Jews were, it was all cool beans.

Christmas was about the celebrating the birth of Yeshua, the son of G-d. Churches had nativity scenes out in front and often there might be one by the courthouse as well. Schools would have trees, kids would sing songs, there would be little parties with cookies, and parents would beam as the children did their Christmas plays.

But not this year. It’s been harder and harder to see the symbols in public the last few years, because they aren’t there. This year has been the worst it seems. So many things canceled for fear of offending another religion.

This is the year of the offended. Or fear of offending. It’s so bad that a teacher was told to take down her Hello Kitty Christmas tree. Yep, Hello Kitty. No angels, or baby Yeshua or anything like that, just little cartoon kittys on a pink tree that were dangerously offensive. At another school the Charlie Brown Christmas play was heavily edited due to the complaint of one person. There were many more complaints against it, but they didn’t matter. So it would seems the schools are safely sanitized of religion now.

Well, except for one. While many schools have decided to quit teaching cursive handwriting because it isn’t needed, some school districts are teaching calligraphy. To teach calligraphy, they are teaching the children to write in Arabic. In Arabic the children are learning to write “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” The first pillar of Islam. The girls in class were also treated to a lecture on how to dress modestly like a muslim, and invited to try on a headscarf while learning. This lesson was not well received by parents, and the school decided to avoid classes the next day and close. Parents were not informed what their children would be told to write, or given a chance to opt out. While a Koran was provided in class for the children to look at, the teacher declined to provide a Bible saying it wasn’t necessary. So I guess that’s how a school in VA observed December. But it’s not just Virginia, in Tennessee in September the schools went even further and made the children learn and recite all five pillars of Islam. They spent three weeks studying Islam, but skipped over the lessons concerning Christianity and Judaism. Doesn’t quite seem equal in the schools to me.

In business, mulsim cabbies refuse passengers with guide dogs and alcohol. Because it’s for religious reasons. However, religious reasons don’t seem to matter when it comes to Christian bakers who don’t want to make a cake. Then it’s all different.

What about obamacare? In 2016 the penalty for an individual is $695 for someone who’s insurance doesn’t match what the government says they must have. The Amish and Muslims are not required to buy obamacare, or have penalties. They believe insurance is gambling. Well, if insurance is gambling and they don’t have to buy it, what about auto insurance? Most states require you to have auto insurance to drive. Are they exempt from that as well?

When there is a crime committed, especially one with guns involved, it seems the media rushes to find a conservative or tea party angle. Yet when it appears the perpetrator is a muslim, the media and the government rush in to decry the connection saying it isn’t islam. In fact, barry still says ISIS has nothing to do with islam. When the woman ran over all those people in Las Vegas? The Sheriff isn’t comfortable discussing motive. Ok, maybe it has nothing to do with terrorism, or islam. Other people may scream “Allahu Akbar”, but seems it could be a clue. I mean that’s how they do it in Israel on a daily basis. The media talking heads and politicians will all trot out and tell us it wasn’t islam, had nothing to do with islam. And then call for more gun control. As a favorite radio show host of mine pointed out, why don’t all those people just hush about it, and let them tell us what islam is and isn’t. The ones doing the terrorist acts says it’s in the name of allah. I’m guessing they would know. No, I don’t think all muslims are terrorists. But the state department hasn’t a clue who is and who isn’t either. Nor does DHS or any other acronym. I’m still waiting for the million muslim march decrying the violence. Oh wait, they probably won’t do that, because it could mean their death as well.

No, islam in America seems to be hoping to force America to change to suit them. And in areas where there are large concentrations of them, they are getting quite brazen about what they insist taxpayer fork over.

So, Aharon, that’s the educational system, the business sector, the health care sector and the criminal arena and even charity and benefits. In all of those one group of people is giving preferential treatment over another. Does this mean we are already living in “dhimmitude” and no one has told us yet? And if the restrictions are applied I guess we will understand why barry tried so hard to take guns away from law abiding citizens. It’s going to be hard to impose the rest of some of those restrictions till he gets that one in place.

It just seemed so sad this December, and I guess I wonder if it is just the start of things? It’s not like we’ve ever seen a time where people are forced to give up the practice of their religion, covert or die right? It’s not like we need to be paging Judah Maccabee, right? No, it’s probably nothing, right?

Sincerely,

נצ

Dear נצ

You really are a glutton for punishment aren’t you? Yes, I can understand why you see things this way. I can understand why you are sad and concerned. But all you can do is keep trying your best to keep the concept of freedom and liberty alive. People have to have the mindset they want to live free. To keep those things alive you have to keep the right to have defensive tools. There are plenty of examples of civilizations that didn’t have enough, or good enough defensive tools and how that turned out. Keep doing those things. That is what you can do. Now, go have a nice cup of Israeli coffee, maybe a piece or two of halva. You’ll feel better.

Regards,

אַהֲרֹן

 

I Am the Storm
I Am the Storm
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Well, we could have had Mark Obenshain…

Mark Obenshain ran for Virginia’s Attorney General in 2013 and lost by a tiny, slim margin to a leftist, anti-Second Amendment authoritarian tool named Mark Herring, because apparently Virginia’s voters were somehow scared that their lady parts would be under the control of the EEEEVILLLL Republicans.

I know Obenshain personally, and he’s a solid pro-gun politician and a decent guy. Herring, on the other hand, is a statist nutbag who hasn’t met an anti-gun regulation he didn’t like. It is under his and Terry McAuliffe’s reign (Thanks, Trump, you buffoon, for giving thousands to elect that Clinton crony in my state!) that Virginia will no longer honor concealed carry permits from 25 other states.

Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) announced Tuesday that Virginia will no longer recognize concealed carry handgun permits from 25 states that have reciprocity agreements with the commonwealth.

Under the policy, Virginians with a history of stalking, drug dealing or inpatient mental-health treatment cannot obtain a permit in a state with comparatively lax laws and carry a handgun legally at home.

Herring said severing the out-of-state agreements can prevent people who may be dangerous or irresponsible from carrying a concealed handgun.

Note the severe amount of stupid in that last statement. Herring actually thinks (if it can be called that) criminals who don’t obey laws in other states will miraculously obey Virginia’s.

Thanks a lot, vagina voters! You’ve given us authoritarian swine, for whom this is likely only the beginning! If they have their way, Virginia will soon be getting an “A” from the Brady Center, and you will be defending your giblets from armed thug invasion using only a spork and a cell phone.

I guess out-of-staters will simply open carry, as is legal all over the state.

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Ask the Jews of Warsaw

Guest commentary
Exclusive to The Zelman Partisans
by Historian

My wife and I attend get-togethers of her extended family, a fairly large clan, almost all of whom are urban or suburban Reform Jews, many with non-Jewish spouses. Her family is pleasant, intelligent, fun to talk to, and polite. And largely liberal. While there is little overt criticism of my libertarian politics, or my stance in support of the Second Amendment, few of her family are comfortable talking about guns; they used to view my JPFO pin more than a little askance. ( I no longer wear it, for reasons every TZP reader understands.) At one of these gatherings some years back, I was privileged to be seated next to one of my wife’s aunts, a beautiful and bright woman who converted to Judaism when she married.

As soon as she was seated next to me, she turned and said, “ Historian, did you know that there are instructions on how to build bombs, and make poison gas, and MACHINE GUNS on the Internet?”

“Well, yes, Aunt Marie, I do; there are books published on all those topics and more besides, and I own some of them.”

“That’s outrageous,” she spluttered, “absolutely outrageous!”

“ Aunt Marie,” I began diplomatically, ‘We’re Americans, and we have the right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Besides which, lots of people already know how to make those kinds of things. You can’t repress the knowledge even if you tried.”

“Ridiculous,” she snorted,”Nobody needs to know to know how to build weapons!”

A bit nettled, I leaned toward her and said, “Aunt Marie, why don’t you tell that to the Jews in Warsaw?”

She looked puzzled, and said “The Jews in Warsaw? Historian, I’ve been to Warsaw, and there aren’t any Jews in Warsaw!”

Her gun-owning Jewish husband leaned over to her and very quietly murmured into her ear “Dear, I think you had better quit while you are behind.”

—–

Starting in the Middle Ages, Poland was a refuge for Jews, being the most religiously tolerant European country up until the 17th Century. Even after the Russian takeover of Poland, and the rise of anti-semitism, Poland generally and Warsaw particularly were still friendly to Jews; while estimates vary, over 300,000 Jews lived in Warsaw ( about 3.3 million in Poland) before the start of World War II.

After Poland was invaded by the Russians and the Germans, and divided between them, Warsaw became the site of the largest of several ghettos, where Polish Jews were confined before being shipped to extermination camps. Hundreds of thousands of people were sent from Warsaw to the East for ‘resettlement’ in 1942. In reality, these people were sent to Treblinka and murdered, but since the government controlled the press, few knew.

In April of 1943, the SS again entered the Warsaw Ghetto to send more Jews to Treblinka for extermination, but this time, the Jews knew where they were to be sent, and with death as their only alternative, they resisted. Estimates vary widely, but according to the sources I have read, there were almost certainly fewer than a thousand guns in the Ghetto, probably less than three hundred, most of which were small caliber pistols and revolvers with just a very few rifles, probably less than a couple of dozen all told.

In the event, after a month of fierce resistance, dozens to several hundred German troops were dead, and the Warsaw Ghetto was burnt to the ground. Few of the about 60,000 Jews left in Warsaw in April 1943 escaped the Nazis, and fewer still survived the war. In 1938, there were as many as 330,000 Jews in Warsaw. Today, in 2015, there are about 2,000; just after the War, there were perhaps 150 or 200 Jews left.

It is impossible to truly comprehend the magnitude of this horror, but the following is just one tiny taste.

My two nephews read their Bar Mitzvah text from a rescued Polish Torah scroll recovered after World War II and sent here to these presently united States. I asked the rabbi whether she knew exactly where the scroll came from, or anything about the history of this Torah, and she did not. So many were lost, and so much was lost with them. It was deeply moving and wonderful to see this beautiful handmade three hundred year old scroll inscribed with the words of Torah, and at the same time it was heartbreaking to realize that no living person would ever know how it came to be, who scribed it, how it survived, who hid it, or how it survived to be brought here to these presently united States. It was enough to make an Historian weep. One Torah, from the thousands that existed in prewar Poland, from one of the thousands of Jewish congregations that are no more.

I wonder, if we could ask them, what the Jews of Warsaw would say to us about needing to know how to make and use weapons. I wonder, if the dead could speak, what they would say about the wisdom of allowing those who seek power over others to take your weapons from you. I wonder whether they would protest against people having books on marksmanship, or ammunition reloading, or on making bombs. I wonder whether they came to understand that it is not the weapon but the wielder that is good or evil.

It has been said that history does not exactly repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Today, Europe is again under attack. Collectivism is again on the march. One has only to watch the online video and read the eyewitness reports to understand that. My understanding is that in Europe today, there is not a gun or ammunition to be had; reports I have read online say that there is a 12 week backlog for rifles and shotguns in those places, such as Austria, where (some) guns may legally be purchased. Yet those who resist can protect themselves only by permission, not by right. Those who protest this invasion are persecuted, thrown into jail for telling the truth.

I wonder, if we could ask them, what the Jews of Warsaw circa April 1943 would say about this ongoing Islamic invasion? I wonder what the Jews of Warsaw would say about free people being imprisoned for their opinions, about being kept helpless in the face of those who would destroy them? What would the Jews of Warsaw say about these insidious attacks here in these presently united States on our Bill of Rights, on our right to free speech, freedom of the press, and especially about our right to own, carry, buy, sell, trade, or loan weapons and ammunition? What would the Jews of Warsaw say to those who refuse to criticize their government?

My curiosity must remain forever unsatisfied, for as my aunt unknowingly said, those Jews are dead. They cannot answer my questions, and their stories will remain forever untold; I can never know what they might say.

But I do know what I say. I say that government exists to protect the rights of individuals, and for no other purpose. I say that all of the powers that legitimate government wields come from the individuals governed, and with their consent. I say that violations of our rights, including but not limited to our rights to free speech, a free press, the right to own and carry weapons of all sorts must be resisted by any means necessary.

To the forces of tyranny, in memory of the dead Jews of Warsaw, I say “Never again.”

What do YOU say?

With regard to all who serve the Light,
Historian

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Historian is a middle aged grouchy engineer, who writes about the history of liberty and politics. His web log may be found at www.libertyhollow.weebly.com.

—–

Ed. note: This commentary appeared first on TZP’s weekly email alert. If you would like to be among the first to see new commentary (as well as to get notice of new polls and recaps of recent posts), please sign up for our alert list. (See sidebar or, if you’re on a mobile device, scroll down). Be sure to respond when you receive your activation email!

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Precedent

FAA Finally Admits Names And Home Addresses In Drone Registry Will Be Publicly Available
The FAA finally confirmed this afternoon that model aircraft registrants’ names and home addresses will be public. In an email message, the FAA stated: “Until the drone registry system is modified, the FAA will not release names and address. When the drone registry system is modified to permit public searches of registration numbers, names and addresses will be revealed through those searches.”

“Wait, what’s that got to do with RKBA, or Jews, or whatever?” I pretend to hear you mutter.

Let’s take it a step at a time. The Federal Aviation Administration, in response to a few incidents involving RC drones near aircraft — none of which caused deaths, injuries, nor even an aircraft crash — issued a new, retroactive rule requiring a national registration database of nearly all drone owners. [ding]

Lacking new legislation to authorize this, the FAA simply, and arbitrarily, redefined toys to be aircraft requiring registration. [ding ding]

Despite telling prospectively compliant drone owners that their personal data (name, address) would be kept private, in fact, they plan a publicly searchable database. [ding ding ding]

“So what?” you might wonder. Hopefully not though, since I’d expect regular TZP visitors to be ahead of me here.

President Barrycade has stated his intent to issue executive orders to implement gun control, since he lacks legislation to do so.

Reportedly, one element of this will be to — again, lacking new enabling legislation — simply redefine occasional sellers as “dealers”. Bound books, 4473s, NICS checks, ATF inspections, and all. [ding]

Hey, it worked for the FAA, and they don’t even have an executive order. [ding ding]

The ATF already has their searchable FFL database. [ding ding ding]

Since Obama and other blood-dancers have stated publicly that they wish to crack down on private sales, it seems safe to assume this will be in one EO or another. But what if he emulates the FAA a little more closely?

Imagine “redefining” all firearms as NFA items. Just like toys became airplanes. Or how atmospheric plant food became a pollutant.

Or how a shoe string became an NFA machine gun.

Registration. Permission slips. Inspections. And maybe that database would become publicly searchable, too. Oh, well; for once we might be glad of ATF incompetence.

There is precedent for registering undesirables.

Fortunately, there’s an easy answer to any such moves.

No.

Your move.

Backing up those brave words might be a little harder, but let me leave you with two quotes.

And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say goodbye to his family?”
– Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
, The Gulag Archipelago

The sheer immorality of victim disarmament aside, one would hope every government thug out there would stop to consider all the possible ramifications of kicking in several million doors because the occupants are well armed.
– Carl Bussjaeger

When the law is twisted by arbitrary, unilateral redefinitions, there is no law to break.

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Poll: ‘Tis the season for gifting …

For most of us, whether we celebrate Hannukah, Christmas, or Yule*, this is the season of gift giving. Our latest poll asks whether you gave or received firearm/self-defense-related gifts this year.

Two things to know about this poll: It will be up until after the end of the year and it allows you to v*te more than once. So if you haven’t finished all your celebrations yet, you can answer now then come back and answer again later.

—–

Through tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. CST, you can also still v*te in last week’s poll, which has drawn lots of responses and plenty of creative comments (love the one about writing articles for TZP!)

—–

*I can’t imagine that anybody here observes that dutiful celebration of collectivism, Kwanzaa. But if you do, then Heri za Kwanzaa to you.

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The Partisans are looking for a few good writers

Would you like to write guest commentary for The Zelman Partisans? We’re looking for eloquent writers who have interesting things to say about guns, gun rights, or self defense. This can be a one-time thing or a regular (e.g. once a month) gig. It can be commentary on the news, a personal story, or a sharing of your expertise. You don’t have to be Jewish. You do have to be uncompromising on gun rights and able to meet a deadline.

We are an all-volunteer organization and cannot pay (sorry). But your work will go out in our weekly alert, then be posted on The Zelman Partisans blog under your byline.

Interested? Contact us: tzpstore-at-zelmanpartisans-dot-com.

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Executive Orders, Watchlists, and Rights Violations — Oh My!

So in the wake of the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Obama’s curiously limp Oval Office speech, the latest call — by everyone from (pardon me while I laugh) “conservative” Donald Trump to “progressive” Big O himself — is to deny gun rights to anyone on the no-fly list.

Or is it the terrorist watch list? Even the politicians screeching most stridently in favor of this latest political fad don’t seem to have any idea that the no-fly list and the terrorist watch list are two different things.

Two very similar things, granted. Two lists created arbitrarily out of the fears and fantasies of bureaucrats. Two lists filled with flawed, incomplete, and often irrational data. Two lists that often produce laughably awful injustices.* Two lists it’s nearly impossible to get removed from. Two lists that are maintained in undemocratic secrecy. Two lists that are worlds removed from the due process protections of the Bill of Rights.

But different. Really.

One state governor — unsurprisingly it’s Dannel Malloy of Connecticut — has even vowed to issue an executive order ensuring that none of those pesky terrorists in his state can buy guns. Which list of terrorists he plans to use remains muddled.

Malloy is, of course, not the only one promising to sling orders about. Valerie Jarrett reports that Obama is finalizing his long-awaited executive order on guns. That should be exciting. And ineffective.

Because that’s the thing

All these faddish measures won’t work. You know that. But it’s the ways in which they won’t work that are fascinating.

They won’t work to prevent terrorist attacks of course. (The San Bernardino murderers weren’t on these lists, and the female of the pair had even been vetted and passed by immigration officials despite the fact that she and her future hubby were already merrily chatting away about jihad and mayhem before the fedgov welcomed her to the USA.) But they also won’t work for their real purpose, which is to keep us from buying guns.

AND — most telling of all, I think — they won’t even work for their political/PR purpose, which is to display the peacock feathers or sound the rooster crows of politicians.

Other than a few diehard fanbois and grrls is anybody — anybody? — the least bit impressed with Obama or Malloy? In your wanderings about town (or about the Internet) do you hear anybody saying, “Yeah, boy, they’re really gonna stop those dirty, rotten gun owning terrorists now?” or do you hear gun owners lamenting, “Oh no, this time my guns and I are really done for! I’m so scared!”

Riiiight.

Sure, all this order-slinging is anti-constitutional, dictatorial, and in violation of both the letter and the spirit of the Bill of Rights. Sure, arbitrarily putting people on government lists to be punished is creepy. Sure, using those lists to deny basic rights is everything bad you might ever want to say about it. And potentially dangerous.

If politicians get away with this, it will inspire them to treat us even more ill. Conceivably, there would be very little, at some future moment, to stop an anti-gun politician or bureaucrat from data-dumping the whole U.S. census into some list and declare in the fashion of the Soup Nazi, “No rights for you!”

All true. And effectively already in process.

But they’re only doing it because they’ve already lost. Not only lost the gun-rights battle (because, if nothing else, 3D printers are about to nullify every gun law on the planet). But because they’ve lost us. Our respect. Their credibility. Our belief that governments “represent” us or even can represent us. Their power to control us. This is increasingly true on both right and left. It’s been true in the libertarian center for decades.

We are watching not political peacocks displaying their grand feathers or roosters strutting about the chicken yard. We are watching political fish flopping about on a dock, hooks in their mouths, eyes wide with panic.

—–

* Although it’s sadly not true that 72 employees of the Department of (Achtung!) Homeland Security are on the lists. Because surely thousands of these agents are a greater danger to both our liberty and our security than many of the people who actually are on the lists.

—–

Ed. note: This commentary appeared first on TZP’s weekly email alert. If you would like to be among the first to see new commentary (as well as to get notice of new polls and recaps of recent posts), please sign up for our alert list. (See sidebar or, if you’re on a mobile device, scroll down). Be sure to respond when you receive your activation email!

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