srothstein wrote:baldeagle wrote:Basically you voted that you want open carry no matter how badly it damages the rights of gun owners.
I voted yes and your post was one of the reasons. I do not see a private business posting 30.06 as infringing on your rights. They have the right to control their property.
You may not see it that way, but the guys who can't even lock their weapons in their vehicle at work don't. In theory they have a right to carry. They've met the criteria, cleared the background check, qualified at the range, learned the law and proven they are responsible gun owners. Yet, because their employer (a private business) has decided that they don't have the right to carry even on the business' parking lot inside their private car, they are effectively disarmed five days out of seven.
A right is not a right if other citizens can prevent you from exercising it by edict. A right is a right when neither the government nor any private citizen can prevent you from exercising it. Otherwise it's just an expression of a utopia that will never be realized. Tell blacks of the 50's and 60's that they had the same rights as everyone else and see what reaction you get. The tyranny of private businesses can be just as bad, or worse, than the tyranny of government, because you have little right of redress.
Think about the first amendment. You can speak anywhere you want, even in my home, if I've invited you in. A business may take offense to your speech and ask you to leave, but they can't prevent you from entering simply because you have a mouth and vocal cords. And they can't stop you from speaking on the public sidewalk outside their business. Do you have that level of freedom with the 2A? Because if the 2A is a fundamental right, just as speech and religion are (and the Supreme Court just said it is), then you should be able to exercise it anywhere, and the only time you should be prohibited from exercising it is when you've been asked to leave or you've entered without permission. When employers extend their gun bans to the parking lot, they've stripped you of your rights not only at their business but also traveling to and from their business.
Do you really think private businesses have the right to do that? Would it be acceptable to put up 30.07 signs that prohibit speech in a business? To preemptively prohibit you the exercise of your fundamental right?
