Category: Liberty

Michigan Supreme Court drops interest in marijuana bust

Legislation Liberty Michigan

After hearing arguments, the state Supreme Court has dropped interest in a case involving police tactics during a marijuana bust in southwestern Michigan. The issue was whether deputies in St. Joseph County acted legally when they walked to the rear of a home and suspected there was marijuana inside. Moments earlier, they had knocked at a different door and got no answer.

Read more at WLKM’s News Site.

Can we decriminalize marijuana use already?  The fact that the police were even investigating a home where they suspected marijuana was inside is just a waste of police resources. There are just so many other things that I would prefer that police spend their limited resources on than this. Not only that but we could free up a lot of space in our over crowded detention centers by eliminating a large potion of non-violent “criminal” offenders.

Having said that I don’t know anything about this case other then what I read in this article so maybe my perspective is out of context with (all) the facts. However, even if that is the case I still believe that marijuana use should be decriminalized and we should rethink how we deal with non-violent crimes.

Common misconceptions regarding our Founding Documents

Liberty

Don't Tread on me

The III Percent Society blog posted a great article about some common misconceptions regarding our Founding Documents.

We all understand the difference between the words “May” and “Can”.  When we use the word “May”, it conveys permission.  “May Not” conveys permission denied.  The word “Can”, however, is the physical ability to do a thing, regardless of the status of permission.  One may not infringe 2A, but people can and do infringe it all the time – because they have the power and willingness to imprison or kill you.

Now here is a simple reality that will strike many Patriots as counter-intuitive: The ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights may not be altered, restricted or deleted – period.  Full Stop.

Article V many of you will say, especially those who went to law school.  The BoR was brought into existence through the Article V process, so using the same Article V process the BoR can be modified, restricted or deleted.

Nope.

Read the rest…. You won’t be sorry. That is unless you are on of those infringer types.

Liberty Revival

Liberty

Missing Liberty
In an effort to revive the Liberty 1st Forum I am going to start posting the most recent posts to the forum on the front page of this blog as well as committing to at least 4 posts a week for at least two months.

Also in another Liberty Revival project I am looking for some other people who would like to post about topics concerning Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. So if you are a person interested in Liberty and would like to write about it on a regular (or semi regular) basis I would love to get some guests posts on the subject. Please Email or post a comment to the thread if you are interested in doing so.

And last of all I am working with a couple of other people to launch another site around one of my favorite topics concerning Liberty, which should be announced sometime mid summer 2014.

Will Carry for Food (Open Carry that is)

Amendment 2 Liberty

Never open carried before? Well here is your chance! Just curious? Here’s a great opportunity to come get some questions answered and see other OC’ers “in action” Michigan Open Carry is inviting you to come have lunch with us at IHOP in Woodhaven. December 15th is Bill of Rights Day, and is set as “Guns Save Lives Day” by other pro gun groups. So come on out with us and celebrate both with MOC!

The Michigan Open Carry forum has announced that their next open carry event in Michigan will be held on December 15th in Woodhaven, MI. at 1:00PM. More about them and this Open Carry event can be found here.

I will drink to this: less regulation = more beer

Legislation Liberty

MLive has this article, “Top Michigan craft beer brewers talk expansion plans as lawmakers consider easing regulations”

  • House Bill HB 4709, which was introduced by Representative Kevin Cotter will increase the current barrel restriction from 30,000 to 60,000
  • House Bill HB 4710, which was introduced by Representative Peter MacGregor will increase the number of other locations a brew bup may have an interest in and the barrel threshold.

Michigan’s craft beer industry is booming, and state lawmakers are looking to loosen the proverbial belt buckle and allow for future growth.

Apparently this is a part of a bipartisan movement to reduce regulations and encourage the expansion of micro breweries.

“There were some arbitrary caps put in place, and I think that was done largely just to set some number so these operations could begin,” said Cotter. “Now, we’ve had a great deal of success. Many of these brewers are not only supplying their products across Michigan, but also sending their product to many other states. This has been good for our economy and good for jobs.”

I have only recently discovered and participated in the micro brew phenomena that has been going on for the last 10 years or so and hadn’t realized how big it has become in Michigan.

And while I certainly appreciate any movement toward more freedom I have to wonder why it was necessary (or why someone thought it was necessary) to have these restrictions on these businesses in the first place.

“Craft beer tends to have higher alcohol content and price, and price trumps everything when it comes to health and safety,” said Marie Hansen of MAP, which generally opposes legislation that would expand alcohol consumption and has proposed increased sin taxes.

Oh yea. That’s why. People like Marie Hansen of MAP (whoever and whatever that is) think they know better about what is good and right for us. I Googled Marie and MAP but couldn’t find anything about either of them but I do have to say her / their logic makes complete sense to me. Of course the expansion of breweries in my area means that I will lose all self control and not be to make be able to make responsible decisions for my self.

Craft Beers

MMMMM

I will drink to that! Winking smile

Related link:

Michigan Open Carry Event

Amendment 2 Liberty

Update: If you know of any other “Open Carry” events coming up, in Michigan, please post them in the comments.

The Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners, Michigan Gun Owners and Michigan Open Carry, Inc. are inviting the public to a “Second Amendment BBQ” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28.

The organizations will provide free hot dogs and pop. Visitors are asked to bring a dish to pass and a gun.

At some point I am going to include an events page for this type of post but until then this will have to do. You can find out more about the event from this article at MLive titled, “Guns encouraged at Riverside Park picnic; Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell invited”

For those of you interested in the organizations putting on the event you can find out more about them at these links:

  1. Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners
  2. Michigan Gun Owners
  3. Michigan Open Carry Forum 

Tea Party Community

Liberty
banner

The Tea Party Community

The Tea Party Community is a conservative hub for sharing ideas, unifying a movement and organizing strategies to keep the United States of America in her rightful place as the greatest nation on earth.

If you are looking for a right of center Facebook with a huge Conservative/Christian following then the Tea Party Community may be just what you are looking for. I am a newbie to the community so I don’t know much about it yet but I am going to hang out for a while, get to know the group and see what comes of it.

Why not just ban violence?

Amendment 2 Liberty

Juxtaposed with the last post, Jackson County, MI allows employees to carry guns to work, a Grand Rapids Commissioner (on his way out) wants to exempt theirs and apparently other Michigan Cities from the Michigan Constitution.

James White took time at the end of a Tuesday, Aug. 27, City Commission meeting to read a prepared statement that “cities are different” from most of Michigan, and he urged lawmakers to “change any laws that might restrict the authority of cities to regulate violence and the potential for violence.”

So he wants to exempt cities from the law to protect cities from law abiding citizens? Smart. Very smart.

“The city has to have different rules because of the role it has to play,” White said after the meeting. “The state should value the cities and not say ‘Oh, you can’t’” regulate guns.

Umm no. The city has to follow the laws that everyone else in the state has to follow.

“Cities are not forests, farms, wildernesses, deserts or rain forests. Cities are markets for the exchange of goods, services and ideas. For the sake of the free flow of goods, services and ideas, cities must be regulated so that there is even and safe playing field.

I for one, feel a heck of a lot safer in a forest, farm, wilderness then I do of any city so this argument makes no sense.

“I believe that most gun owners are responsible people. But open carry implies the willingness to use the gun under certain circumstances. Other people are left to guess what those circumstances might be. Having to wonder is intimidation.

Of course carrying a gun in the open or concealed implies a willingness to use it. Why else would you carry one? It is not my concern what other people are left to guess about. Free speech is intimidation to some people. And some people just need to get over it.

“I recommend that the state of Michigan change any laws that might restrict the authority of cities to regulate violence and the potential for violence.”

If it is that easy why not just ban violence from your city? That should work, right?

If you can stand it read the rest of the article: Ban open carry of guns in Grand Rapids? City commissioner wants to regulate ‘potential for violence’