Slashdot Mirror
Tainted "Piracy" Statistics
newtley writes, "The music, movie, and software cartels claim 'piracy' is a Number One problem not only for themselves, but for the world as a whole and so successful are their continuing dis- and misinformation propaganda campaigns that they've been able to dragoon entire governments and police forces into acting as industry enforcers. But, says p2pnet, far from being at the top of the pile, movie and music piracy rank 16th and 20th, respectively, on a global index of illicit markets. (Software piracy ranks 7th.) And even those positions are subject to considerable doubt."
A maxim is that guarantees of freedom in the Constitution are to be read broadly. So read the document: "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Do you really object to restrictions on felons and mentally ill people obtaining firearms . . . ?
Are felons and the "mentally ill" (whatever that means) who are not in custodial care people, under the Constitution? Yes, they are.
"[S]mall arms" includes a lot of things other than hunting rifles and handguns suitable for self-defense. It includes everything short of mortars and howitzers. Do you really think that sales of AK-47s, Browning Automatic Rifles, flame throwers, and rocket propelled grenades should be unregulated?
Are those arms? Yes, they are. You admit as much. But mortars and howitzers are in fact arms as well.
Does prohibiting people from obtaining, keeping, and carrying arms constitute an infringement of the right to keep and bear arms? Yes, it does.
So there you have it.