At 10:56 PM -0700 8/10/97, TruthMailer wrote:
The government claimed they only wanted to ban the *bad* guns, but as Tim May pointed out, now it is theoretically illegal in some places for a citizen to carry a paring knife home from the store. Of course, in practice, these laws will only be used against *bad* people. Mary Tyler Moore has nothing to worry about.
Cops here in California are quite open about the law being a law they can use to bust or harass undesirables. Like an increasing number of laws, the law is applied capriciously and politically. A related example is the arrest, ticketing, jailing, etc. of so-called "homeless activists" for the crime of distributing soup and other forms of food in Santa Cruz (and San Francisco, other cities, etc.) The apparent crime is not that they were trespassing or blocking traffic, or somesuch, but that they were "preparing and distributing food without a license." I attended a City Council meeting and spoke up on this point. I asked that if the "Food Not Bombs" folks were being arrested for distributing food without a license, that the cops also make arrests of the various groups at church picnics, Boy Scout outings, family picnics, etc., who also prepare and distribute food to groups. (Cooked under the same conditions, and distributed the same way.) The Council showed no reaction to my point, not that I expected to have any effect (dozens of others made similar points, that this was selective enforcement). The cops were told to keep busting people for distributing food, but no orders were given against church and social groups. "Some food distributors are more equal than others." Selective enforcement is the real power of the State. And they wonder why McVeigh said "Enough!!." --Tim May There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws. Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!" ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."