A quick note on civil disobedience.

The entire point of civil disobedience is to deliberately, openly, and publicly accept the penalties that come from breaking an evil law. You have to go to jail, in other words. The goal is to make people say “Wait. This guy is a good guy! And they’re putting him in jail for this stupid law?!? And what he did, that was illegal in the first place? Well, it shouldn’t be. That poor guy.”

Yes, that makes life uncomfortable for the person engaged in civil disobedience. Probably permanently so. But that’s the idea. That’s how you make people ashamed at the injustice, and at the system that created the injustice. If you’re not ready to take that step, fine. But you’re not this guy

In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust. and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

…so don’t pretend that you are.

Connecticut discovering that Scary Gun control is harder than it looks.

Both Reason and Instapundit have both roundly castigated the Hartford Courant’s faintly hysterical (in all senses of the term) editorial calling for Connecticut cops to harass Connecticut gun owners into providing something better than a 15% registration rate (at best) for their Scary Evil Devil-Guns “military-style assault weapons.” Goodness knows the editorial deserved it, given that it seems to have been written by one of the most politically tone-deaf people in the country.  I especially enjoyed this pious hope of the Courant’s:

Although willful noncompliance with the law is doubtless a major issue, it’s possible that many gun owners are unaware of their obligation to register military-style assault weapons and would do so if given another chance.

Continue reading Connecticut discovering that Scary Gun control is harder than it looks.