So you dont pay taxes? Do you make your own license plates?
Who are "Them" and how do you explain the awb sunset and the rise of shall issue CCW regulations? How do you explain rights-affirming court cases like Gideon, Mapp, Escobedo, Miranda and the like? If "they" are trying to stomp you down "they" are sure going about it in a strange way.
First, the AWB sunset was a result of the method in which the anti's got it passed the Senate in the first place. The end result was the perception that the election cycles following the AWB gave power to the Republicrats. The truth is I have more fear of G.W. Bush and my gun rights than I would have of Kerry, at least I knew where he stood, so that argument doesn't hold water for me. Something
EXPIRING is not a gain, it is merely a return to status quo.
Second, who said I can't afford the toys I want? Since you know absolutely nothing about me you should not preseume what I can and cannot afford. That aside, if I did want a full-auto firearm, I should be able to purchase such WITHOUT filing any forms or paying any taxes, as that is an infringement of my
absolute right to private property. Full-autos don't do it for me, but a 20mm anti-tank rifle would be awesome, but alas, I can't own one, as best I can tell.
Centac,
You cannot argue with people who think that rights are absolute and god-given. Despite there being no evidence for either claim they will insist that they have an absolute right to [fill in the blank] totally unrestricted from any interference by anyone. It is nonsense. It is obvious nonsense. But it doesnt stop people from believing it.
Finally, some of y'alls comments suggest that you can not have a reasonable conversation with anyone who believes their rights are unalienable or God given, I hope I am proving that is not the case. And when I refer to "them" I am referring to anyone, be they LEO, legislator, judge jury exicutioner, whatever.
My question would be this, if rights are not unalienable or God-given as you put it, where do our rights come from? Do you believe they originate with the Federal Government or some other august body? If so then they are not rights but priviledges, and then you would be correct, because those can be revoked by authorities for transgresions or ay other reason.
However, the Decleration of Independence says
...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
This may not constitute "evidence" in your opinion, but since it is "in there", I'll go by that.
Just so I can understand, why is the belief in unalienable rights non-sense?
As for paying taxes and license plates, etc. -I am forced-
at gunpoint- to pay taxes, or risk confiscation of my private property,
upon which I have already payed taxes, ironically. I avoid taxes at every level by buying used goods or through loopholes in the tax code offered to those of us smart enough to understand it and use it to our advantage.