Treated guilty until proven innocent

So, I'd spent my hard-earned money on a gun.

Then I waited 10 days to claim my legally purchased property.

It was like pre-ordering a book on Amazon.com; I send them my real money NOW, then they think about sending me the book sometime in the remote FUTURE.

Part of the 10 days includes a background check, which I don't think I'm against. I don't think (recently) convicted felons of violent crimes should have guns, nor do I think people on probation for violent crimes should have guns. I DO think that the whole point of the criminal justice system is to rehabilitate (though I'm not so naive to think that EVERYONE can be rehabilitated), and to let a convict out of jail because he is "rehabilitated" and not let him buy a gun, is silly. If he's dangerous, leave him locked up.

So I wasn't too upset about that. What I WAS upset about, was that part of that 10 day waiting period was a "cooling off" period... Because anyone purchasing a firearm is doing it to murder someone in anger! Really instils a lot of faith in law abiding gun owners.
Your Seanator: "Well, you're buying a gun, and guns are used to kill people in cold blood, so you must be planning on killing someone in cold blood! So, we'll give you a bit to cool off. Oh, and don't think that we're treating you as if you are guilty of a crime you've never commited, nor that we have any proof or probable cause to believe you WILL commit! You know... It's just in case... Besides, wouldn't you rather we err on the side of treating you like a criminal?"
Me: NO.

This is the problem with the whole "If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear!" crowd. That isn't the chant of concerned honest citizens. It's the chant of a government trying to extend its power just a little bit more. Don't believe me? Take that phrase, and put it on one of those communist propaganda posters. I'll pause a moment while you do this... Don't mind me, I'll be here when you get back.
..
....
!

So, you see then. If you still don't believe me, try putting some other phrases on that same communist poster...

A people that values its people above its privelages soon loses both
Yeah. Doesn't quite work does it?

How about this old favorite?
Anyone who gives up freedom for the sake of safety, deserves neither freedom nor safety!
Somehow this one doesn't fit either... (btw I believe use of this quote consitutes 256 instant diggs =P)

Here's a new one I picked up recently;
One sword often keeps another in the scabbard.
That definately doesn't promote any communist ideals...

And yet...


Eeerie, isn't it?

The government will not take away our rights with a backhoe! They'll slowly chip away at them. Before we know it our broad base of freedoms will be a slender pole we balance on to try to keep from falling off into prison.