Our fundamental rights come from God. We the People grant our government certain rights to enable it to keep our country functioning. Rights do NOT come from the government, who then grants the ones they want to give to the People. (See: The Five-Thousand Year Leap.) I believe that, as Thomas Jefferson said, The government that governs best, governs least. Having said that, however, I think it’s perfectly reasonable that we grant our governments the right to issue permits and/or licenses to regulate a number of things . . .
- Operating a motor vehicle on our streets, roads, & highways
- Constructing houses and buildings
- Selling prescription drugs
- Wearing Spandex
Okay, I threw that last one in as a public service. My question (again): should the government—any government— have the right and/or obligation to force citizens to get a license to own a gun? After giving it a lot of thought, I think the answer is (surprisingly) yes. And no.
