Bill of Rights does not protect law breakers
by Nick Nance, reporter

    In 1790, Congress submitted 12 amendments for the U.S. Constitution, 10 of which were adopted in 1791.

    These amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.

    These amendments detailed fundamental rights that the United States guarantees each and every citizen.

    Each citizen is guaranteed the right to speak without risk of persecution, the right to free press and the right to choose one’s religion, to name a few. However, nowhere does this document guarantee citizens the right to fly or drive a car.

    As we found out on Sept. 11, our privilege to travel by air can be stripped away from us at any moment.

    Unfortunately for current times, we have wound these privileges so tightly into our society that we take them for granted and demand them as if we are doing the airlines a favor by booking a flight and traveling by air.

    However, this is not the case.

    I believe in our government and its control on society, for without it, we are a monarchy or a dictatorship. Our government must have control over something that can put so many lives at stake.

    Too many people see putting federal forces at our nation’s airports as a government infringing upon our rights.

    Those people are uninformed about what rights and privileges are.

    On a smaller scale, this erroneous belief also leads to something else that our country has debated: how the government can take away citizens’ privileges to drive for not following the rules.

    Some argue that they pay taxes for the roads and cannot be told they can’t use something they have paid for. Yet, most taxpayers who do not have school-age children do not use schools and don’t complain. It’s the same idea.

    I have been told that if the government restricted the use of its roads, people would build their own. This is far from the truth.

    Law Enforcement agencies do just that—enforce the law.

    When the law says if you get so many tickets or a judge revokes your license, you are prohibited from operating a motor vehicle on any street.

    Never will you be able to get enough people with suspended licenses to pay for their own separate roads.

    We tried separate but equal before with other things. It didn’t work then, and it will not work in this case either.

    The bottom line is to enjoy the privileges this great nation extends, you have to follow the rules.

    You don’t have to like the rules, but you must follow them.