12-12-2017, 09:45 AM
fine to do so on your horse and walk into a store with your gun. I do not recall reading about "gun-free zones" in early American history.
Some of my comments will by necessity involve American history but only as background in order to (eventually) reach my (entirely) Puna related conclusion. If I walk into the weeds for a moment, I'll try and keep it brief.
leilanidude suggested that in the early American colonies you could carry a gun with you on your horse, almost everywhere. When most of us think of early America, it's the image of a cowboy, with a 6 shooter by his side, kicking up dust outside of Dodge City, or Tombstone. That individual, however, lived 50-100 years after the Constitution was signed. In the 1770's, 90% of the colonists were farmers. They had recently arrived by ship with almost no money, and few possessions. They farmed by hand, or if fortune smiled upon them, they managed to obtain an ox. After many years they might be able to purchase a horse and a rifle for hunting small game.
Those were the conditions faced by American colonists at the time the 2nd Amendment was written. In the latter 1700's most Americans couldn't even afford a gun. Certainly not a pistol, which for all intents and purposes was a useless weapon then, unless you were wealthy and insulted, and needed to fight a duel. There definitely was no such thing as concealed carry with a squirrel rifle.
We in Puna District, driving on Highway 130, in 2017, do not face any dangers remotely similar to those encountered by a colonist-farmer walking, or perhaps riding to a nearby village in 1770. If he was well off, and did carry a weapon, it was a hunting rifle which at four or five feet long could not be concealed. If concealed carry did not even exist when the 2nd Amendment was written, on horseback or otherwise, you can't reasonably claim the 2nd Amendment provides you with the right to conceal a weapon in your Honda Civic today.
Militias in 1770 were formed with the few residents who might own a gun, for general protection of the local neighborhood when required. To be effective, local authorities preferred men who did not consume inordinate amounts of hard cider, and who could follow basic instructions. Hence, well regulated.
We in Puna District do not have a well regulated militia in existence that you could join at this time if you bought a gun under the pretext of 2nd Amendment rights. I will make an assumption, but I don't believe our Hawaii County authorities would encourage the formation of a militia either, as they likely would find such a group more problem than solution in Hawaii in 2017. Any "train of abuses and usurpations,"* or "absolute Despotism"* would more likely come from a bunch of yahoos forming their own back jungle version of a militia, than an overreaching mayor's office or police department.
* see Declaration of Independence
Firearms haven't really changed much since then.
Really?
long list of self-defense tools that are illegal to carry.
In Hawaii? Such as?
Some of my comments will by necessity involve American history but only as background in order to (eventually) reach my (entirely) Puna related conclusion. If I walk into the weeds for a moment, I'll try and keep it brief.
leilanidude suggested that in the early American colonies you could carry a gun with you on your horse, almost everywhere. When most of us think of early America, it's the image of a cowboy, with a 6 shooter by his side, kicking up dust outside of Dodge City, or Tombstone. That individual, however, lived 50-100 years after the Constitution was signed. In the 1770's, 90% of the colonists were farmers. They had recently arrived by ship with almost no money, and few possessions. They farmed by hand, or if fortune smiled upon them, they managed to obtain an ox. After many years they might be able to purchase a horse and a rifle for hunting small game.
Those were the conditions faced by American colonists at the time the 2nd Amendment was written. In the latter 1700's most Americans couldn't even afford a gun. Certainly not a pistol, which for all intents and purposes was a useless weapon then, unless you were wealthy and insulted, and needed to fight a duel. There definitely was no such thing as concealed carry with a squirrel rifle.
We in Puna District, driving on Highway 130, in 2017, do not face any dangers remotely similar to those encountered by a colonist-farmer walking, or perhaps riding to a nearby village in 1770. If he was well off, and did carry a weapon, it was a hunting rifle which at four or five feet long could not be concealed. If concealed carry did not even exist when the 2nd Amendment was written, on horseback or otherwise, you can't reasonably claim the 2nd Amendment provides you with the right to conceal a weapon in your Honda Civic today.
Militias in 1770 were formed with the few residents who might own a gun, for general protection of the local neighborhood when required. To be effective, local authorities preferred men who did not consume inordinate amounts of hard cider, and who could follow basic instructions. Hence, well regulated.
We in Puna District do not have a well regulated militia in existence that you could join at this time if you bought a gun under the pretext of 2nd Amendment rights. I will make an assumption, but I don't believe our Hawaii County authorities would encourage the formation of a militia either, as they likely would find such a group more problem than solution in Hawaii in 2017. Any "train of abuses and usurpations,"* or "absolute Despotism"* would more likely come from a bunch of yahoos forming their own back jungle version of a militia, than an overreaching mayor's office or police department.
* see Declaration of Independence
Firearms haven't really changed much since then.
Really?
long list of self-defense tools that are illegal to carry.
In Hawaii? Such as?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves