Keith Kube for Legislature

Editorial #136 “Red Flag Laws and Emotions” aired January 9, 2020

Editorial #136 Red Flag Laws and Emotions

In this age of technology, law makers are always testing the limits of our Constitution’s Second and Fourth Amendments that guarantees our right to bear arms and prohibits the government from unreasonable searches and seizure. These are reasonable limitations to place on any government that may thirst for power. We need to have the right to protect ourselves and someone just can’t come to you and look through your wallet or purse just to see what’s inside.

The ways to gather information is always growing, from Google searches, social media, e-tax filings, facial recognition software, data mining, gun registration laws, DNA ancestry, to on line medical and financial information. Our credit cards can be scanned without being touched, security scans at airports and large events by a computer can instantly determine who and where you are and how much money you have on your person. The government knows almost everything about us with privacy almost impossible.

Any debate about laws surrounding security and gun control comes very close to the violating both the 2nd and 4th amendments. The “Red Flag Laws”, like the Unicameral’s LB 58 by Adam Morfeld, where anyone can report someone if they feel they have guns and may be dangerous, is another example. Where do we draw the line between privacy and security? The better question is: when do allow our emotions to cause us to ignore logic?

I addressed this in Editorial #95 “Red Flag Laws” and #120 “Confidentiality”

There will always be extremes and problems in life. Our objective is to keep things in balance. It will never be perfect. We can’t expect our government to take care of everything and we need to have information to function. We must realize our purpose should be to make the world a better place by example and teaching others how to be self-sufficient.

I have a habit of trying to fix anything that is mechanical. If it is working fairly well, but I feel I can make it a little better, I will fix it until it breaks!

This habit seems to be a part of human nature as this happens to some degree with all of us. But when politicians feel they must always be doing something, this trait rears its ugly head. They try to make laws that often make matters worse with regulations that always limit our freedom and always grow government bureaucracies.

Everyone wants to feel secure but to have security exclusively provided by a government is impractical, inefficient and dangerous. To have the government protect us from all threats, means they can control our existence. If the government does this they will need to constantly filter through everyone’s personal data to identify potential threats. This also means they assume we are guilty until proven innocent. To play upon our emotions to advance a security agenda, compromises our foundation of liberty in a constitutional republic and puts us on the slippery slope of socialism.

Any “Red Flag” law is just one of the cuts where we will become the victim of a death by a thousand of them.

This is Keith Kube wishing you the best in making the world a better place.

Bumper:
Keith has a regular commentary on WJAG 780 radio at 7:40 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Check his website www.keithkube.com for past editorials.

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