Balancing on the thin blue line

• Posted on 24 November 2017
• By Write Winger
• 0

Is it a good idea to have law enforcement on the gun rights community’s side? Yes, hopefully it will make them think twice before enforcing liberty restricting, victimless, and unconstitutional laws against us. Will they still be the ones tasked with enforcing those laws against us? Also yes. While you may have a Thin Blue Line and Molon Labe sticker on your car, they will be the ones moloning your labe.

What side of the thin blue line do you stand on? Do you take a “one side or the other” stance? Some believe you have to, and there honestly needs to be these competing sides in order to keep victimizers on both sides of the law in check, as well as protecting and supporting the good on both sides. In reality, you should have a nuanced “one foot on both sides of the line” stance in each individual situation, because dealing with the enforcing power of government, it’s a very necessary stance to take.

It’s possible to support the enforcement of laws against those who victimize others but also be against the enforcement of bad laws written by tyrants that restrict the liberties of those who haven’t victimized nor have any intention of victimizing anyone, to hold those tasked with enforcing the law accountable when they violate the rights of those they’re wielding the power of law enforcement against, and to ensure they apply the law in a just manner.

Law enforcement is the government wielding its power against the people, against both victimizers and good people who are presumed guilty of nothing more than crossing government dictates or pissing off a police officer. As a supporter of limited government (granted that it never stays limited), this power must be checked and restrained. Does this make me anti law enforcement? Some might say so. I may stand on the side of law enforcement when they arrest murderers, rapists, abusers, and thieves, while at the same time say, “keep your damn hands off my rights, liberty, and property”.

The NRA has stated that they are pro law enforcement, that they support enforcing laws already on the books. But that doesn’t just include penalties against victimizers who use guns during their crimes; it’s also enforcing things like NFA laws against people who have victimized no one and committed no crime other than owning a rifle that shoots too fast, has the wrong length barrel, or has a muzzle muffler (I need to trademark that).

Is it a good idea to have law enforcement on the gun rights community’s side? Yes, hopefully it will make them think twice before enforcing liberty restricting, victimless, and unconstitutional laws against us. Will they still be the ones tasked with enforcing those laws against us? Also yes. While you may have a Thin Blue Line and Molon Labe sticker on your car, they will be the ones moloning your labe.

But not all. Sheriff Adam Christianson of Stanislaus County for example has stated flat out, “Our jails are full of actual bad guys, I have no intention of going after good people” while addressing a crowd for a gun rights rally after the Gunmageddon laws were signed. He has also stated during a radio interview, in regards to a California law that makes it a crime for CCW permit holders to carry on campus, “This is a stupid law. If I issued you a CCW for protection outside the home, and you are carrying on campus, you will not be arrested. I will not enforce that law.”

All laws are eventually enforced at the point of a government’s gun. Once a bad law is in place, the only thing that prevents its enforcement is each individual law enforcer. If you support law enforcement, 1) be very careful what you believe should be “against the law”, 2) help dismantle laws with no victims regardless of your personal feelings on the subject, and 3) be as skeptical of government enforcers as you are politicians who write the laws, and hold them just as accountable to protect our rights and liberty.