Re: Do reporters have special rights the rest of us don't have?

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 12:36 PM -0700 6/13/97, Robert Hettinga wrote:
>Awwww, Caaa'monnn.
>
>You mean they can license handguns, but not reporters???

Indeed, it is strange. What part of "Congress shall make no law" do they
not understand?

(A better example is the ban on certain kinds of rifles, as these are
Federal bans. The various handgun licensing provisions are state and local.
Though let a state or local government try licensing _speech_ and watch how
quickly the Supremes would rule it unconstitutional.)

About five years ago I wrote a satirical essay arguing for "Licensing and
Regulation" of speech, noting the number of innocents killed by "assault
speech" and arguing that a $50 fee for each act of speech is completely
consistent with similar fees for exercise of the Second Amendment rights.

I'd repost it, but it's buried somewhere on one of my offline disks.

--Tim May


>I think reporters, particularly the lapdog Whitehouse kind, have killed
>more people in the last century than domestic handguns, don'tcha think?

Yes, many in the White House have already richly earned termination with
extreme prejudice. Several of them also should be tortured before being
dispatched.

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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