  New obscene laws about to be passed by the government. this is why I constantly harp on Free Speech and the rest of the bill of rights.  Why oh why?  Op/ Ed piece. scary stuff I believe in the bill of rights as it was originally drafted.
and I agree with most of the amendments to it as well.  We have the right to free speech. it is there to protect speech that some of us may find questionable.  That is the beauty of this bit of law.  It is also why it is first.  Without it there can be no public discourse or debate on anything.
the founding fathers realized that and made sure that we can say what we want when we want.  It also makes the separation of church and state sacrosanct.  Their fear was that if the government pimped a particular religion than that would effectively close down free speech,  free press,  and all of the things that they were fighting for.  We have the right to keep and bear arms and maintain a well regulated militia.
 The idea behind this was to say that the people could organize in active opposition to the government if the government was to get out of control.  They could not foresee the problems that people have with this.  Nonetheless they have it in there.  So I believe that if you are a citizen of the US then you are allowed to own any type of weapon you want. even a howitzer.  They made it so other laws would be enforced if you chose to abuse this right by indiscriminate killing people.
hence the oenal code.  If you want to hunt a deer with an M- 16 then so be it. just don't shoot up the local school yard.  Banning all weapons for private ownership and use only hurts us. and here is why.
because the people must have the option of rising against the government in times when the government runs amok ( much like it is now)  No soldier shall be quartered in a private residence unless in times of war and only with good reason.  This stems from the fact that the British military would often come in and take your house and use it as a base of operations in an area.  It applies now moreso then ever in my opinion.  We have seen the military come into areas and taking over in the name of "
the law" examples include Waco and Ruby Ridge. having the military being able to take your house is saying that the government can turn our forces against us the people.  Search and Seizure. basically laid out to make sure that a police or military force can't just come into your house and look for stuff.  This right has been nearly stripped from us.
moreso than the right to bear arms. cops nowadays simply pull you over and they have probable cause and search your car.  Whenever I have been pulled over I have almost always refused them a search of my car and call them on it when they shine a flashlite into my backseat saying that they can't do that.  This right has been the most eviscerate of them all.  Also it covers re- imbursement for property that has been commandeered.
when was the last time you got a check for Los Alamos?  They took the land and never re- imbursed the people for that land.  The Fifth amendment takes a big bite of many things. basically saying that you cannot be charged with a crime by one person or on that persons authority. that they have to get an indictment.
it too has been eviscerate through the use of closed door grand juries.  It also makes it a right to " plead the fifth"  so that you are protected from implicating yourself. again it has become distorted by many in the corporate world. what do you think when you hear someone take the fifth.
you think " GUILTY AS CHARGED" it is ashame because it really only means that you don't want to tell anyone what you know or don't know.  Six is the right to a speedy trial and due process.  Pretty obvious here. but lately it has gotten out of hand.
 Everyone who steps foot in this country is protected by it. but under the current administration and Patriot Act we can now be thrown in jail without due process or a trial. it was to try and prevent one person from becoming to powerful and locking up opponents.  Double jeopardy is the next one basically.  This right has been upheld all the time. and it is one of the few that still works well.
 It only works well because of the rich constantly asserting it for crimes they have done. if it were only poor people being dragged through the system then this right would surely have been rescinded.  Trial by jury is also included to make sure that the people have a say in the system.  Fair Punishment and fair Bail. well this one is obviously gone. ask any young black man who sells pot on the corner.
 They get long sentences and huge fines,  plus they rarely get fair bail.  This is one of the ones that applies conversely to your wealth. the richer you are the less you have to pay for your crimes.  Nine touches on the fact that the rights cannot be denied to anyone. and was later strengthened by including minorities and women.
 It says that the law can't be changed willy nilly.  Ten asserts states rights.  Basically ceding federal law to state and local law. the foresaw that they couldn't make plans for all contingencies. so they gave the states flexibility to shape laws how they saw fit as long as those laws didn't interfere with the Bill of Rights.  However notice lately in the debate over medical marijuana the Federal Government is trying to enforce its views over the states.
it was put in the bill of rights to allow citizens to make up their own law for their communities without being bound to a slower moving federal government.  That is your quick lesson in the Bill of Rights.  Hopefully you learned something.  You should because these rights are under attack from all sides by the Bush Administration.  Fight for them.  For the people who want to take away gun rights I challenge you to prove that if private ownership was banned tomorrow crime would go down.
 The laws on the books already make it illegal for felons to own weapons.  The laws that are in place now only interfere with a person who is obtaining weapons legally. the criminals will still get them regardless. plus if you are for banning weapons then you are probably liberal. and you should be fighting to keep the right because of the current way things are going. it may come down to an armed conflict between the government and the people.
if we don't have the tools to fight them then we would loose and things would be much worse. a little revolution now and again isn't always a bad thing.  So read up and become informed of your rights. Exercise them daily.  Use them often.  Make them your own.
 If you don't then in a few years when they are all gone you will find yourself in a world of hurt.  Does this mean Mike that you oppose gun control?  No actually I don't oppose it. I think some controls are fine.  You should have to wait for a weapon so that checks can be done. but when it comes down to brasstacks you see that the current controls really don't filter out the people that go buy a gun then shoot others up.
because obviously if they obtained the gun legally the person was found to not be a threat.  You can't regulate anger or behavior. so don't try to.  We have to accept that there will be gun deaths. but we can make sure that the most egregious acts that are committed are punished to the fullest extent of the law.  That is all for tonight.
I will step down from my stump now :
