Sunday, 23 February 2003

Trifecta. Today I did another one of those things I've been meaning to do for some time: I joined the American Civil Liberties Union (First Amendment - yay!), the National Riflemen's Association (Second Amendment - yay!) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Fourth Amendment - yay!). Now if I could just find someone to defend my rights on quartering troops in peacetime, I'd be all set.

(Actually I'm more concerned by the ongoing War on the Sixth Amendment; I do not grant John Ashcroft the power to decide who gets a trial by jury and who doesn't. Ashcroft strikes me as the sort of person whom the Constitution's "checks and balances" were specifically designed to keep in check. A jury of my peers can sort terrorists from immigrants far more effectively than Ashcroft's police-state tactics, and do a lot less damage to the republic in the process.)

Some people, myself included at times, may think the ACLU and NRA are a bit extreme in their take-no-prisoners defense of the First and Second Amendments (respectively)—but I think overall both organizations do me more good than harm. I've never owned any weapon more lethal than a BB gun, which will undoubtedly make me the odd man out at NRA meetings, and I only own one or two books that the FBI would rather I didn't... but I'll reserve my rights to have more, thank you. Silencing or disarming me is not in the public interest.

Incidentally, Australia's gun laws are far more restrictive than those of the United States: I think handguns are wholly illegal here, and other firearms are difficult to obtain. This does not prevent criminals from obtaining them, of course, but it means the law-abiding Australian citizen is generally unarmed. This is one of those subtle things that you don't really think about until you're living overseas: In America I never owned a gun, but I always had the option if I wanted one; in Australia I don't have the option, and that sort of bothers me.

One of our neighbors had a break-in a few months ago: She (and a relative, thankfully) walked in and found an intruder in her apartment, and all she could do was to throw things at the guy. He escaped, with her purse, and has not been apprehended. I've read both sides of the gun debate (to the extent that two groups shouting past each other can be called a "debate"), and while I'm generally to the left of center on these sorts of things, I'd like to be able to defend my home and family with more than a basket of fruit and a vase.

So, for whatever it's worth, these three organizations each get my US$35 for this year, and we'll see how I feel about them a year from now. If nothing else, I figure that living overseas will prevent me from receiving most of the exciting junk mail I'd normally get by joining them.

- Posted by Scott Forbes at 12:48 pm. comments.