Boots & Sabers

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Owen

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2046, 15 Oct 15

Anti-Freedom Nuts Look to Smoking Bans for Guidance

For those who thought that the anti-smoking campaign was about smoking or health… no, it was, and is, about control.

But with gun reform ideas dead upon arrival, some people are asking why they should tolerate guns in their workplace when they don’t tolerate, for example, smoking.

In the past, smokers were free to indulge in their chosen vice almost anywhere they pleased. Today, that’s no longer the case. Even a few short years ago, being barred from smoking in public places was thought to be a serious infringement on individual freedom. But today, lighting up in a restaurant can spark a sense of moral outrage from fellow diners.

You can walk into many restaurants and diners across America if you are carrying a loaded weapon and find yourself welcomed with open arms. But if you happen to be carrying a lit cigarette, you will be quickly shown the door.

The main driver of smoking bans was concern about human health. Naturally, then, shouldn’t the United States ban guns for health reasons, too? After all, just look at the statistics on gun-related deaths.

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2046, 15 October 2015

2 Comments

  1. scott

    Not sure what you mean. Smoking in the workplace probably damaged the health of everyone who worked in it. If the study cited in the article is correct, firearms at work increase the risk of being shot there. Health, health. It’s a pretty solid argument.

    The counterargument, I would think, is that smoking isn’t a constitutionally protected right: owning firearms is. Not sure it holds quite enough water to close the deal, but that’s where I’d start making distinctions.

  2. Kevin Scheunemann

    Restaurants have to enforce.

    In WI, it’s against the law to smoke in a restaurant!

    Courtesy of our anti-private property lefties.

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