Thursday, February 10, 2005
The Republican's Dangerous Gun, eh no, Identity Grab
For years Republicans have been telling us, “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” But yesterday, during the debate on HR 418 (The Real ID Act), Deputy Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) said IDs and driver’s licenses are “weapons of mass destruction.” I’m not making this up. I witnessed it live on C-SPAN.
It’s exactly the same issue.
Some own shotguns to hunt. Others own a revolver for personal safety. A precious few own a rifle to protect us from dangerous governments – foreign and domestic.
When you consider all of the things you need an ID for... from driving, to renting a car or a room for the night, to getting a job, for buying alcohol, tobacco, and even firearms, etc. and then how a simple bureaucratic mistake can effectively turn you into a non-person, you have to conclude that Republicans wanting to toy with National IDs are at least as dangerous as Democrats wanting to restrict our gun rights.
Perhaps they don’t need to pry our guns from our cold dead hands, they can steal our identities and take away our rights by denying us the required status necessary to be a full-fledged member of society. When you consider what else Republicans want to do with this ID (and will do, because government always expands its power), you have to conclude they are even more dangerous than Democrats.
And if you are a gun rights advocate -- an NRA member -- that supported HR 418, you're your own worst nightmare.
For years Republicans have been telling us, “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” But yesterday, during the debate on HR 418 (The Real ID Act), Deputy Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) said IDs and driver’s licenses are “weapons of mass destruction.” I’m not making this up. I witnessed it live on C-SPAN.
It’s exactly the same issue.
Some own shotguns to hunt. Others own a revolver for personal safety. A precious few own a rifle to protect us from dangerous governments – foreign and domestic.
When you consider all of the things you need an ID for... from driving, to renting a car or a room for the night, to getting a job, for buying alcohol, tobacco, and even firearms, etc. and then how a simple bureaucratic mistake can effectively turn you into a non-person, you have to conclude that Republicans wanting to toy with National IDs are at least as dangerous as Democrats wanting to restrict our gun rights.
Perhaps they don’t need to pry our guns from our cold dead hands, they can steal our identities and take away our rights by denying us the required status necessary to be a full-fledged member of society. When you consider what else Republicans want to do with this ID (and will do, because government always expands its power), you have to conclude they are even more dangerous than Democrats.
And if you are a gun rights advocate -- an NRA member -- that supported HR 418, you're your own worst nightmare.
Comments:
Post a Comment
