Interesting topic!
I am always interested when I see people who want “no regulations”. In my opinion, not only is this unworkable in any society, but I believe that the people who write this imagine that it will give them “freedom” without imagining that anyone else will want to do something that impinges that ”freedom”.
My advice is ”Be careful what you wish for”.
Someone asking for zero regulation and the freedom to do what they want better be prepared for a bunch of other people to come and do what they want to the no reg. Guys. We all like to imaginethat we are not just self reliant, but in some way supreme, in that our abilities will allow us to prevail in any circumstance. I’ve been around long enough to know that this just ain’t so.
We live in a civilized society (most of the time for most of us). This inevitably involves compromise and some form of regulation to benefit the whole. This will always restrict some peoples ”freedom”, but also lays out “rules of the road”, like driving on the right side of the road. That’s a restriction right there on my freedom to drive on whichever side of the dam road i want to drive on. But can I really imagine a workable traffic plan that didn’t involve some such regulation? I’ve lived and driven in third world (although sometimes Boston MA seems to be like that
) places where the traffic regulations existed, but were more of a vague concept than strict rules. Believe me when I say, it doesn’t work so well.
What I hope for is a light touch from the regulators, and that they actually have some reasonable idea about the topic. However none of these are guaranteed, and often the level of regulation is a response by the broader society to the behavior of those (often a small group) who cause many problems for the whole.
As a person who shoots a fair bit, both airguns and the other sort, a lead ban is a pain in the ass. On the other hand, do I want lead all over my property and my environment? Nope. Do I want coal fired power plants spewing particulate matter over my house? Nope. Does that mean we need to ban all coal derived power generation immediately, even if it means we are cold and dark all winter? Nope. But I can certainly live with a balance, for example one in which coal may be gradually phased out and pollution reduced, or where lead may be allowed for target shooting but restricted for hunting (e.g. for waterfowl in almost all the country).
There is no perfect answer or solution because we don’t live in a perfect world. But that shouldn’t stop us from trying to make it better.
Chris
