I've been musing about the Cocktail Party platform for a few days. I made the mistake of starting with the hard stuff, like war and the economy, but have realized that those issues will take awhile. Both of these debacles could easily have been prevented if I had been consulted earlier, but the people in charge rarely think to do that. Guns, I think, will be an easy issue. They seem to be very important to a lot of the Tea Party folks, so they could be a handy bargaining chip. I used to believe in gun control, but that was before I did a stint teaching drug smugglers out at my local federal prison, where I learned more than I had previously known or really even wanted to know about the extent and resources of the criminal underworld. Guns are probably one of those things like mind-altering substances and abortions, which can't be stopped with laws. Prohibition just creates inconveniences for the affluent, dangers the poor, and a lot of income for outlaw profiteers.
So, it's a deal. In the cause of freedom, we will have legal abortions, legal marijuana, gay marriage, and no state religion. They can keep their guns.
