A Man Who Almost "Gets It"

I found this letter to the editor of the Asbury (New Jersey) Park Press in yesterday's cache of news from Keep and Bear Arms. S. Duane Ruland makes a convincing argument here. I only have a little nit to pick, at this point in the letter:

None of the above is to suggest we engage in armed revolution, or that some reasonable limits on rights are not acceptable. After all, free speech doesn't allow crying "fire" in a crowded public place or libeling someone, nor does the right to assemble permit blocking city streets.

The emphasis is mine.

Actually, it does permit the crying "fire" in a crowded public place.  No permit is required to exercise one's free speech rights.  You do not have to pass a background check, no sanity requirement is imposed.  If you do cry "fire" and there was no fire, you are prosecuted after the fact for the infraction.  If, on the other hand, there was indeed a fire, you will be hailed as a hero.  Now compare that to the Second Amendment, where you must get a permit to exercise your right.  You must pass a background check, and recently "sanity" requirements have been added to existence of a crime in your background.  You must satisfy the Government that you are not a threat before they will "allow" you to own or carry a weapon.  There is no prior restraint on First Amendment rights, but there is a prior restraint on Second Amendment rights.  But the rights are in fact analogous.  If you misuse your Second Amendment rights, you will be prosecuted.  If you use them as intended, you will be hailed as a hero, saving the lives of innocents.

For those not inclined to think this through, I should point out that uttering anything that you know to be false can have dire consequences, up to and including death of innocent others, if people act on what they hear.  Words have consequences as surely as bullets do.  Therefore, the rights should be treated the same.

I applaud Mr. Ruland for taking on yet another ignorant article and correcting the glaring errors of the "journalist."  It is work that needs to be done, but I have long since grown weary of constantly pointing out these errors.  It is easy to print lies, but it takes an enormous amount of time to correct.  Mr. Ruland gets it, almost.  Cheers to the Mr. Rulands of the world.