Libertarian Party Weekly Newsletter

June 17 - 23, 2013

Lots of names being added to the Libertarian list. Libertarians in Douglas County work to control the use of drones. Second Amendment advocates in Kansas City have a picnic Natural Law. Is it Natural? From Professor Liberty We have been adding many names to our email list. This is a very good sign for the message of Liberty and we hope to have the project complete by next week. We will wait until then to formally welcome all our new readers. For now, if you are new to our list, Welcome! Drones are receiving quite a bit of publicity lately. For good reason. Drones are an amazing feat of human technology with immense potential. They can be used to aid search and rescue; to deactivate a bomb; or to drop a bomb. Because they can be controlled remotely, they can be small ... even nano-size ... and they do not require the person controlling the drone to come into the operational area, reducing risk. We understand smart drones are now being developed that require little or no human direction. However, for all the effort to make drones more effective, as Libertarians, we are concerned about the impact they could have on our privacy and civil liberties. We believe a bit of effort to limit or regulate their use now will prevent abuse by either government entities or private groups at some future time. It’s important to keep in mind that we are not necessarily against the idea of domestic drones. We recognize they can be extremely helpful in certain circumstances. Law enforcement has long used helicopters, for example.  However, a helicopter flies above us and looks down; a drone could be undetected as it peeks through our windows. They could crawl under our door. They could carry or place surveillance devices inside the most private parts of our homes. Should government agencies, law enforcement or even private organizations and individuals have this right without restriction? Can information gained be admissible in court? We want to ensure that drones are not used to infringe on our rights. Unless Libertarians take steps now to insure responsible use of this new technology, we feel fairly certain it will be seriously abused in the not-to-distant future. Currently, there are no laws in place to keep us from being observed by a drone or even to give us any way of knowing we are being observed. No court is required to approve a warrant for their use. There are also no guidelines in place for the use of weapons on drones.  It conjures images from fictional works like 1984 or even The Terminator. A group of Libertarians in Douglas County have led the way for Kansas Libertarians. They teamed up with like-minded groups on this issue and led a collation of concerned citizens to advocate for limitations on the use of drones in their county. Our Douglas County Libertarians have forged a model that can work across the state. They gathered a coalition of supporters, created a facebook page called - Kansans for Responsible Drone Use and went to the city council to request they write a city resolution to protect citizens from having their civil liberties (privacy) violated.  This is a formula that can work in any Kansas community and we hope it will be emulated in many. This is another area where Libertarians can make a difference. If you are interested and need more information, contact Ben Jones or Patrick Wilbur through their FaceBook page. Or, copy & paste this link into your web browser: https://www.facebook.com/groups/576254655729375/?fref=ts Be sure to keep us in the loop. Let us know about your successes (and failures) so Libertarians in all 105 counties can learn from your experience. We will do our best to get the word out. Open Carry in the Kansas City area is moving ahead at a healthy clip.  Longtime readers will recall that Kansas law specifically permits open carry anywhere in the state. While local communities may regulate open carry, they may not prohibit it. The LPKS open carry task force has successfully engaged a number of communities that previously had ordinances prohibiting open carry. We pointed out the state statute and after some reasonable discussions, they decided to change their local ordinances to comply with state law. A few have not. Leawood and Prairie Village apparently want to discuss this in court. We are prepared to meet them there. Recently, our second amendment activists held a Founding Father's Day Picnic during which a group of men, women and their children gathered in support of civil liberties. Wearing empty holsters, they were protesting the open carry bans in Leawood and Prairie Village. We also announced that the Johnson County Open Carry Group will bring suit in those two cities in the coming weeks. This is an on-going effort by the Libertarian Party of Kansas. It shows the results a few dedicated Libertarians can achieve. Thank you to Grant Nelson, Mike Kerner and Earl McIntosh for their courage in leading this and facing the press.  Thanks to all the Ls in the 3rd district for support and getting the word out. It serves as an example for Ls across the state. Professor Liberty says: The Natural Law Question: Of all political systems, why is Libertarian the best? Answer: Because Libertarianism has the most solid moral foundation in human rights. Libertarianism is a descendant of natural law and ethical intuitionism. Natural law is the philosophical proposition that certain rights are ordained by virtue of the human condition. In other words, because you and I are human, we are born with rights.  The government does not give these rights any more than the government allows you and me to breathe. The government’s role is to protect these rights and not diminish them. History suggests that only small government can do this.  Can the government take away a natural right? Practically speaking, government can place penalties on acting out natural rights. However, only elimination of the human species could theoretically vanquish forever a natural law, and maybe not even then, depending on the source of Law.  Governments are good at suppressing rights.  What are some of the rights derived from Natural Law? The freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom to defend oneself, these and others are Natural Law rights.  Maybe they come from nature, were ingrained by evolution, perhaps revealed by divine revelation, bestowed from supernatural inspiration, or discovered by reason.  Libertarians and others will hold different beliefs on the origin of Natural Law. But regardless of their origin, they exist. They exist within each of us, individually.  The party that best maximizes individual liberty is most aligned with Natural Law. We know that party as Libertarianism. Russell Fulmer, Ph.D.