For
decades the NRA has used fear to oppose reasonable gun legislation such
as requiring gun manufacturers to install safety features. They fear
that such legislation will open the flood gates to our federal
government passing more regulations with the power to restrict and
eventually prohibit the possession of guns by private individuals. It
is this same fear that has been displayed here on Ridecamp, the fear
that a reasonable action today will lead to unreasonable controls
tomorrow. As Joanne* and Truman** noted, it is our responsibility to
make sure that our government doesn't unduly expand any program to the
point that it infringes on our liberties. As an aside, perhaps it is
the obvious failure of the American people to exercise this
responsibility with respect to imprisoned suspected terrorist leaning
individuals that fuels this fear.*** After all, if we can't muster the
courage to speak out against obscene abuses against our own citizenry,
how could we possibly be expected to protest a little invasion of
privacy like expanding the data-gathering capabilities of NAIS?
Nevertheless, reason dictates that we decide this question on the basis
of its own merits and not on the fear of some future legislation or
program which may never come to pass.
*Joanne: Like Joe, I share concerns about the abuses that can
occur with any
centralization of information like this---but like Truman, I believe
that it
is our role as citizens to compel our government to use it properly.
**Truman: The key is a population that demands that our
Government be accountable to the people.
***While having ties to foreign Islamic organizations might constitute
probably cause for arresting American citizens as suspected
terrorists, the indefinite incarceration of these Americans, without a
hearing or trial or possibility of parole, is a gross infringement on
their constitutional rights that we sheep have accepted without protest.
