The Jews In The Attic TestTo the best of my knowledge I am the originator of this test and the name I use to describe it. It first came about in 1999 while I was working with Cease Fear (Cease Fear predates The Pink Pistols by about a year although the Pink Pistols is far more successful). We were putting hand-outs in the shops in the Capital Hill area of Seattle for NRA Refuse to Be A Victim and Home Firearm Safety classes. The Capital Hill area is well known LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Trans-sexual) community in the Seattle area. Our goal was to teach people of the LGBT community how to defend themselves against people who would attack them (gay-bashings). Several of the others and I in Cease Fear were certified NRA firearms instructors and were willing to donate our time to help make their lives safer. One of the discussions we had amongst ourselves as we walked from shop to shop was how to explain to others how important our right to keep and bear arms was to our freedom. People tend to understand the importance of freedom of speech and the freedom of the press pretty well and some of the other rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. But the Second Amendment was and is viewed as unimportant and perhaps even counterproductive by many in today's society. I explained to the others in my little band of activists that I looked at all laws that restricted freedom with a view to the impact it would have in a worst case scenario of our government run amok. Will this law make it difficult or impossible to protect innocent life from a government intent on their imprisonment or death? Although I pretty much made everything up on the spot I told them I called this test my "Jews In The Attic Test". Furthermore I told them that if it fails this test no further discussion is really needed, the law must be opposed in the most vigorous manner possible. Some laws that fail the test and why:
I continue to use this test to this day and advocate its widespread use by others. Last update:
February 11, 2009
|