Rights may become endangered

    The events of Sept. 11 have permanently changed the fabric of America. Whether citizens are looking over their shoulders more, not flying or not buying, things are not the way they were on Sept. 10.

    To use an outdated sports cliché, a new ball game requires a new game plan. So the federal government has been pushing new anti-terrorism legislation through Congress.

    We, as a nation, must be aware of threats and be ready to defend ourselves from attack, both foreign AND domestic. Some of this legislation, while supposedly geared toward combating terrorists on our soil, has the capacity to violate the Bill of Rights and strip Americans of basic constitutional rights.

    In the aftermath of the attacks, gun sales have gone up across the country as people realize that the police may not be able to help them, and after a recent Supreme Court ruling, the police are not legally required to help either. In Pennsylvania alone, Concealed Carry Permit applications were up 176 percent.

    Perhaps in response to this frenzy, leftists in Congress have used the disasters to introduce new anti-gun legislation such as the banning of .50 caliber sniper rifles for civilian use.

    Those proposing such restrictions do not recognize that not one American has killed another American with one of these rifles.

    Some states are not very gun friendly. New Jersey has outlawed hollow-point bullets and hi-capacity magazines. California has outlawed hi-cap magazines, fully automatic weapons and ex-military hardware. These infringements on the Second Amendment are at best unconstitutional, but are just the beginning.

    U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is proposing new freedoms for law enforcement to find terrorists. His proposals include techniques such as unlimited wiretapping authority without a warrant, “probable cause” searches without a federal warrant, the ability to read e-mail and track where people go on-line and the freedom to detain people without actually charging them with a crime.

    Such infringements are scary. These actions are the type George Orwell warned of.

    Where will it end? When people have national ID cards and are stopped and asked “Ihre Papiere, mein Herr?” (Your papers, Sir?).

    We should look closely at the newly formed Office of Homeland Security. This title sounds quite ominous. Perhaps Ministry of National Well-Being and Happiness was too Orwellian or GeheimeStaatsPolizei (Secret State Police) was too nazi-esque (hint: Gestapo).

    All of these new laws and agencies may have the best intentions of the nation at heart.

    However, we as citizens must fulfill our duty to make sure that we do not lose the Second, Fourth, Fifth or any other amendments that are in place to defend our God-given or Constitution-rights.

    Remember, a freedom not fought for and defended is a freedom denied.