For The Record: It's Not About Guns.

MND ^ | Thursday, December 01, 2005 | John Longenecker

[Nasty McPhilthy]

It may seem that I write a lot about guns. This isn't about guns.

The complaint liberty enthusiasts such as myself have with officials is not about guns per se, it’s about our governance. Specifically our self-governance. Defiance of the rule of law as so many are showing these days should be of interest to every citizen.

And liberty enthusiasts have no complaint about government: our complaint is over official misconduct, such as stealing archival documents, handing over coal-bearing land, technological secrets, lying under oath, pulling troops out and winking to the enemy in the process, making rulings based on foreign law – you know what I mean.

The really overlooked part is that all of this screws liberals, too, in case you didn’t notice.

So when officials step in and do what’s right in preserving sovereignty, it’s time for hope.

We’re at war, and our nation is going to be filled with more and more stories of heroism over complacency.

Here is one.

I’ve been following the progress of USAF Retired Sergeant Bruce Beatty and his resisting official misconduct in Ohio.

Ohio is a right to carry state – one of 37 such states in America – and Beatty’s summoned back-up.

The Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro stepped in.

In brief, Bruce Beatty -- along with tens of thousands of other citizens -- carries a concealed weapon lawfully in Ohio. But the city of Toledo took it upon itself to outlaw concealed carry in parks. Like many right to carry states, Ohio’s law enumerates places where guns are forbidden - churches, schools, etc. Parks are not on that list in the law.

Beatty was ticketed and he kept his promise to appear.

The Prosecution failed to appear, and sent a junior counsel. The judge believed that the prosecution was not ready to go to trial with Beatty, and was open to a motion for continuance. At that time, the prosecution submitted that the park was private property, and that Beatty’s weapon was therefore illegal. The judge asked just whose property it was, exactly, and in whose name title was held. The prosecution did not answer, and a continuance was granted.

On the trial date, the judge held that the park is private property and found Beatty guilty.

What the hell just happened?

Whatever it was, it happened to all of us!

And this is why this case is so important. It happens all over the country.

What happened was that you can be found wrong for political purposes. This interferes with your sovereignty, and how, brother!

Without the intervention of the state’s highest law enforcement officer, this kind of outrage would otherwise stick. This is an abuse for political purposes, and thankfully, it is recognized as such by other officials.

The news is that Attorney General Jim Petro took the position officially in defense of Ohio’s concealed carry law.

But this is not about guns; it’s about individual sovereignty when an individual actively understands and obeys the law in good faith; it’s about when a court does not, and acts in bad faith. And that’s how and where this decision happened to all of us.

No matter how hard you work to obey the law, a court can say that you didn’t, and without heroes such as Beatty and Attorney General Jim Petro, where do you go from there? Excessive expense, maybe? Stress? Time off work, battling an ogre who has unlimited resources?

And for what? To fight for your civil rights any court should already know and shouldn’t need to have explained to them?

This is one of those disputes that threatens all Americans, because it interferes with your liberty, whether you want to own a gun or not.

Because it’s not about guns. And it won't be next time, either. It’s about sovereignty and our way of life every single time.