Privilege for whom?

Jeff Jarvis has an interesting post on journalistic shield laws, which he generally opposes, today.

He doesn't want to see

an official definition of who is a journalist, not only because this is likely to exclude bloggers but also because official status can be given and can be taken away.

While his concern is the first amendment, many of us are likewise suspicious of the similar (and so far much more successful) attempts to reign in the second amendment through similar means.

My line in the sand has always been on second amendment issues, and its because of situations like this. If politicians get the second amendment right (and don’t throw their principles out the window to appease Rosie O’Donnel, Hillary, and the far less than million commie mommies) then they are much less likely to get the other amendments wrong.

Somehow, we have allowed liberal interst groups to infect America with this notion that our right to own a firearm comes solely from the good graces of the .gov (through licensing and registration and bans on guns that poor people can afford) rather than being an inherited natural right to self defense derived directly from god himself (as all the rights in the Bill of Rights are).

Jarvis's immediate fears may seem like they are more likely to come from the right, though I would argue that the left is just as willing to restrict your right to free speach as the right (look at Kos’s post today about campaign finance restrictions on blogs).

In most Blue States, firearms ownership is pretty restricted and regulated - requiring both significant sums of money (it will cost you hundreds of dollars in permit fees and mandatory classes to own a handgun in Massachussets or Connecticut, before you are even entitled to spend $1000 on one from the “approved” list) and your being a celebrity or belonging to the upper crust political classes (try to get a permit to carry a firearm in New Jersey - pretty much banned to all except for those in the good graces of the Governor or a judge).

By supporting these types of measures to restrict second amendment rights, our politicians have formulated the precedent to restrict out first amendment rights (which are clearly responsible for more deaths - ie: Mein Kampf - over the years than any thing else).

Just a thought.