mASS BACKWARDS has a post about a U. S. Army Second Lieutenant and two others who were fighting to get a license to carry (two of them are looking for a renewal, one for an initial license) in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts.

The story focuses on Kang Lu, a Chinese-born member of the U. S. Army who’s studying to become a military doctor. Lu had his license revoked for four of the most asinine reasons I’d ever heard (his neighbors were loud, he once talked to a counselor about the stress of medical school, he once informed a librarian that he would prefer to sit in the well-lit area of the library (it was supposedly a children’s section, though no children were around), and he “lied” on his application by saying he was an active member of the military (an Army Official was prepared to testify that he was considered to be on active scholarship while in med school)).

You should read the whole thing, and realize that licenses to carry are not a “permissive” thing. The state doesn’t issue a license because it has an interest in who can do something, but because it cares who can’t. Considering the Constitution says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”, I consider licenses to carry unconstitutional (not to mention they’re simply moral abominations). (To those who consider this to be a collective right, not an individual one, you should note that the right to assemble (Amendment 1) andthe right against illegal searches and seizures (Amendment 4) are phrased in the same way: “The right of the people…”)

( þ The Smallest Minority)