Regulation

An allegory is a complete narrative that seems to be about one thing, but is actually about another

Well, I must be chasing rabbits …. am I going down the rabbit hole? 

Here I go, off on a tangent, pursuing another topic that ensnares my wandering attention.

Recent court cases relate to interests commanding almost universal attention. They shift my focus.  I can't resist

There is much ado regarding constitutional guarantees of freedom. I note that there is no specific guarantee of my freedom to hold and express weird opinions.  And yet I dare to do so.  

Someday someone who finds my simplistic musings offensive may try to make it illegal for me to publish.  Not to hold such trivial beliefs — but to express them in the public  venue, where they may represent a danger to society.

I am concerned — it comes to my attention that Jay Leno has an extensive collection of automobiles.  Around 180 by actual count.

Why would anybody need that many?  Is he qualified to drive them all?

Probably some of them have gas tanks holding more than ten gallons of gas, and perhaps capable of speeds in excess of a hundred miles per hour. 

I suggest a need for government regulation. A permit to purchase a vehicle.

Absent any constraint I may tomorrow set out to buy an automobile — or two — every day.  And you have no way of knowing whether I am qualified to have even one.

Assume that I am limited by my choice, or circumstance, to one shabby old sedan --  am I allowed to drive it?  Free of any governmental requirement for proof of competence?

In 1952 I obtained a Texas driver's license. In 1960 I got one in Arizona.

1990 found me in Colorado.  Another driver's license.

In 1998 I relocated to Alabama — and used their driver's license until I returned to Texas in 2003. 

 2013 found me in Utah. Another driver's license.  And then I returned to Texas in 2014, and my Texas driver's license.  Can you spell peripatetic?  I had to look it up.

How many different state DL's have I had? The point is that I recognize governmental authority, and the requirement for meeting relevant qualifications to be permitted to drive on the streets and highways.

It is not necessary to explain that the reason for such licensing is the rather obvious fact that an automobile represents a potential danger — if it is driven by someone lacking fundamental knowledge, and who is not aware of and in compliance with rules of safety. 

My history indicates my acceptance of regulation.

All of this recitation of my history of different licenses is meaningless. But a simple substitution in the discussion of guns for automobiles  — with the implicit correlation of a license to carry (a gun) for a license to drive illustrates my contention that “Constitutional carry — (or permitless carry)” is unwise.

Next thing you know, they'll be allowing cars without drivers on our streets!

Ridiculous.