“The first key to writing is to write, not to think” William Forrester (Sean Connery) Finding Forrester (2000).
I want to write about words. You know, the building blocks of blah, blah blah… Stuff that writers use to create scenes, build plots, describe characters. I want to talk about how some writers, some speakers too, use words not to illuminate, but to obfuscate. And, I want to give you something to read.
Virginia’s legislature is in the process of creating new legislation concerning firearms, specifically those that are semi-automatic in nature. Lawmakers are tying themselves into knots trying to describe, in the stilted manner of statutory construction, what an “assault rifle” is. They have come up with a definition more appearance than function (which is par for the course all over the country), settled on something easy - large-capacity magazines - and then proposed making the possession of an assault rifle illegal.
The debate over the assault rifle ban (which apparently didn’t pass) was particularly illuminating, for the manner in which language was used to obscure the law’s true purpose. Asked if there was a provision in the law that would allow current owners to maintain possession of their weapons, the answer was an easy “No.” Ah, but this is where things got interesting. One of the delegates asked if that meant that law abiding citizens would, by the stroke of a pen, be turned into criminals.
“No. Virginians will follow the law.”
“So, they will turn in their firearms or be arrested. Will there be compensation?”
“The delegate should read the bill. There will not be confiscation.”
I find that exchange fascinating. A law abiding citizen of Virginia would have to dispose of (by some means described by statute) property with a value of thousands of dollars. But, there would be no “active” confiscation effort. Yet.
Confiscation is a law enforcement method, not a legal requirement. It is entirely within reason to assume that some event will occur giving some law enforcement “leader” the impetus…or, excuse…to begin a “voluntary” program that includes some targeted knocking on doors based on records readily available to LE.
That won’t happen? I have laid out what I believe is a rational, reasonable, foreseeable way LE, and the military, would be forced to choose between the law, their personal principles and their understanding of the Constitution in A More Perfect Union. Deputy Cici Onofrio and Marine Lieutenant Kevin Cross are thrown into a rapidly-deteriorating situation on the plains of Colorado pitting them against everything they thought they stood for.
Improbable? The news is full of protests, angry exchanges and gun confiscation proposals made by serious men and women hoping to become government leaders. Read the book, and then consider how improbable the events that unfold really are.