bbracken Yes you are right on both my spelling,
but more importnatly my generalization of texans it is sweeping.
Funny...I saw more weapons being carried in Tennessee than in Texas (only weapons being carried here, that I have seen, are by police and private security) So unless you live here, you are making sweeping generalized statements based on perception... specially when you were referring to me, a Californian.
I would ask why you dis agree with owning nuclear weapons but not automatic weapons, and a generalization that an industry that is controlled that has no majour health risks should be significantly un regulated would continue to offer the same safety standards! is about the same generalization, but more so to say that My individual freedoms on everything are more important then group security I think is even more sweeping, (I dont) do you know where and in what context Franklin even made that statement? I have a feeling it wasnt Raw milk or Automatic weapons.
This is the first time
automatic weapons have been mentioned...reaching a bit? I will field it anyway...one could make a case regarding personal defense with a hand held weapon...kinda hard to make the same argument regarding nukes. Also...the constitution guarantees the right to own and bear arms...somehow I don't think the Supreme Court would rule that nukes count as "arms".
The rest of the statement I am not sure I understand, but I will give it a shot anyway....No where did I even imply that dairy shouldn't be regulated. I would expect that the same regulations that apply today (ie: safe to consume) would continue to apply. The dairy farmer selling raw milk would be responsible for the cleanliness of his operation and the health of his cows and would also be responsible should "bad milk" be sold and all that implies.
With regards to the Franklin quote....I do not know the exact context of the statement (I am old, but not that old...I wasn't there), however in today's world it doesn't take much intelligence to see that we are losing liberties and freedoms once considered sacred by our forefathers while at the same time our gov't exerts more and more control over it's citizens and those same citizens become ever more dependent on govt.. It also doesn't take much imagination to see how legislation such as the Patriot Act can be abused to a degree only seen in totalitarian countries.
To disregard such a philosophy is to do so at one's own risk...to disregard history is to be doomed to repeating the errors of the past. Ben Franklin was a highly intelligent fellow who contributed much to the founding of our country. Our forefathers put much thought into the constitution and in particular to limiting the powers of the govt. We see this changing...not good.
Just because he wasn't referring to "automatic weapons" doesn't demean the basic meaning of the quote.