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AnimusRex -> RE: Pennsylvania Drafts 2009 Mandatory Vaccination, Gun Confiscation Law (10/17/2009 4:52:38 PM)
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OK, first you should read the actual draft, from a source more reputable than prisonplanet.com
here is the link to the Pennsylvania State legislature-
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2009&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0492&pn=0544
Second the bill is written to give the State authority to act ONLY in times of a decalred "Public Health Emergency" like a bioterror attack, or outbreak of contagious disease. It defines "Public Health Emergency" clearly:
" Public health emergency . " An occurrence or imminent threat
of an illness or health condition, caused by bioterrorism,
epidemic or pandemic disease or novel and highly fatal
infectious agent or biological toxin, that poses a substantial
risk of a significant number of human fatalities or incidents of
permanent or long-term disability, where such illness or health
condition includes, but is not limited to, an illness or health
condition resulting from a natural disaster."
Among the emergency powers, it give the State the power to quarantine people, restrict travel, shut down businesses- in short, the kind of emergency powers we expect when there is a crisis.
The bill only mentions firearms ONCE where it gives the authorities the power to:
"To control, restrict and regulate by rationing and
using quotas, prohibitions on shipments, price fixing,
allocation or other means, the use, sale, dispensing,
distribution or transportation of food, fuel, clothing and
other commodities, alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives
and combustibles, as may be reasonable and necessary for
emergency response."
Now- as a strong libertarian, I am cautious about granting government any power it doesn't absolutely need. but as long as a natural distaster, or terror attack, or contagious disease outbreak are strictly defined and limited, I am willing to grant the government power to act "as may be reasonable and necessary for
emergency response."
By the way- if you are worried about overly powerful government- yo may want to write your Congressmen about the renewal of the Patriot Act; according to the Act, and subsequent legal memos by the Bush Administration, President Obama has the singular unilateral power to:
Tap your phone without a warrant;
Read your email without a warrant;
Record every single keystroke of your pc and website visited, search your bank records, search your library records again, all without a warrant;
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23231
Throw you into prison without charges, without a trial or representation; (The Jose Padilla case)
Render you to a foreign country like Egypt or Libya where you might receive "enhanced interrogation".
But not to worry- while you are rotting in prison, your gun will be safe.
Worrying about black helicopters from the Pennsylvania Health department is the least of our worries. Unlimited power of the State to "protect" in the GWOT are a bit higher on my list.
[edited- while I was researching, I missed other posters making similar points]
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