Felonies and the 2nd Amendment

Felons lose their rights to many things, including the right to own a gun. All felons. From non-violent to murderous. The question for us today, is this the right thing to do? Should it be a blanket prohibition? Or should the penalty fit the crime? Don't ex-convicts have the right of self-defense? Do they still not have the right of free speech and retain other rights? Felons can petition to have the right to vote returned. Why not for the 2nd Amendment rights? Next time you think that all felons should be disarmed, think of this: via Oleg Volk and Knox News.

Oleg Volk: Buying 25 cartons of cigarettes in the next state is now a felony. That's right, a lifetime loss of many civil rights. The amount of money involved? 250 packs x 19 cent difference (between Tennessee and Alabama) = $47.50 worth of excise taxes. But that's nothing new to the American law -- missing out of a $5 tax stamp for adding a second grip to a pistol is also a felony. We already discussed felony charges for ownership or sales of sex toys...

Next time you hear of proposal to deny voting or self-defense rights to felons, consider how close everyone is to becoming one...often without knowing it and almost always without victimizing anyone. Greedy revenuers trying to prohibit interstate commerce or morally offended puritans prying into your bedroom don't count as victims.

KnoxNews: Tennessee residents may legally possess no more than two cartons of cigarettes without the state tax stamp.

Contraband cigarettes, and any vehicle in which they are transported, are subject to seizure, Farr said.

“If Revenue agents believe that an individual is transporting more than two cartons of cigarettes into Tennessee, the vehicle carrying the cigarettes will be stopped and searched,” Farr said. “If more than two cartons are found, the cigarettes will be seized and agents have the discretion to make arrests and seize the vehicle.”

So, would a gift of cigarettes from Virginia to a friend in Tenn. put him in jail....
Just think, the cops sell the seized cars to finance expensive swat teams to stop more "cigarette runners".....sound familiar?
I wonder, does Virginia have any laws like this? We tend to be crazy about out of state alcohol. If one buys booze in Maryland or North Carolina while on a road trip and brings it home, will you go to jail? Shouldn't crimes that penalize you by stripping away rights be ones that put others in danger and not ones that "rob" the government of taxes that can be raised or CREATED at any time?

Think of the war on drugs. When we started it, the laws were quite reasonable. Now, Florida police can stop a car, and if a drug dog signals that it has detected a trace presence of drugs on the car or the driver, the car is impounded and any assets seized. In many cases, there might not even be standardized regulations for any citizen that was found innocent to retrieve his property.

Add to this, look at what the government and other citizens want to do by expanding the state to classify you as "mental" and prevent you from exercising YOUR right to own a weapon.

How safe are YOUR rights?