When is a right not a right?  by Ron Havlen

I am taking the online NYS driver’s courses offered to help reduce car insurance expenses. During this course, I’ve come upon a section about assuming an inherent right to drive. This section really struck me.

I’m going to be careful to avoid using the direct wording in this section to avoid any copyright infringements. 

This section deals with people who believe they have an inherent right to drive.  It states that if driving were a right, people couldn’t be required to show they have the skill, ability and knowledge to operate a car safely. If driving were a right, people couldn’t be required to take any tests or show skill levels before getting a license to drive. If driving were a right, anyone could drive a car, regardless of skill.

NYS corrects that assumption and goes on to say that driving in NYS is a privilege, not a right. And because it’s a privilege, drivers are subject to a number of penalties including the loss of driving privileges. And that licenses are not available just because you reach a certain age; it is an earned privilege.

Hmm. “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

It surely seems to me that, according to that sentence in the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, that owning and using arms is a recognized right of ‘we the people.’

New York is certainly applying the term of privilege to firearms ownership, and trampling all over the rights of the people.

Do we agree that firearms owners should get training and practice in using their arms? Of course. But does that mean that New York State should mandate such training to its own self-serving standards?  I answer strongly no to the current and proposed requirements because these requirements are designed not for safety and skill, but rather to create barriers - both physical and financial - to ‘we the people’ being able to own their own arms.

Privileges give the state power while rights give the citizens power.  New York State surely understands the difference between a right and a privilege when it gives the state more power, as in issuing drivers’ licenses.  As to guns, New York State wouldn’t recognize the difference between a right and a privilege if it was smacked in the face. 

The question is, do we the people recognize that difference and are we willing to do something in defense of that right?