Folks: Let's stick with the law and policy of firearms regulation; and let's also recognize legal terms when we see them (since this is a list on which legal discussions are quite important). "Duty" is a word that has (at least) two meanings; it can mean either moral obligation or legal obligation, depending on the context. The discussion so far has been about the extent to which the availability of firearms to citizens affects any legal duties of rescue that the law imposes on citizens in some jurisdictions. This "duty of rescue," a legal term of art, refers to legal obligation to rescue or else suffer legal consequences, just as people may have a duty to report for jury service, a duty to pay taxes, and a variety of other duties imposed by law (whether or not they are also imposed by morality).
Eugene -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 7:28 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: List Firearms Reg Subject: Re: Fw: Duty not just to rescue but to defend implicit in militiaduty Duty is not defined by the law. Thinking that it is demeans duty and reduces it to squabblings in court. To quote from a different era "Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less." Duty, like morality, should be taught at home. The law should concern itself with the gross failings of morality. So a doctor should have the duty to apply his skills in an emergency situation and the law should encourage that duty by protecting him against lawsuits. The doctor should wish to apply his skills out of a sensor of morality and his upbringing, not out of a sense of obligation under the law. Even police officers have been known to kill other police officers in confusing situations. But, it should be clear in the law that we have have the duty to protect one another and the law should protect good faith efforts to halt attacks. That protection is not the same as requiring a person to respond. Each of us decides for ourselves where our duty lies. If it is defined in the law, we are not free -- we are slaves of the law. Phil Quoting Jon Roland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> > <head> > <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> > <title></title> > </head> > <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Here is the message I sent the > author which takes a different position. > Of course one should be sure of what one is doing before intervening, > just as a law enforcement officer should be. The duty of the civilian > is the same as the duty of the cop. Just not done as a paid job. All > the same cautions apply, but so do all the obligations, and one of > them is to know what one is doing. That is why the Founders emphasized > the militia is to be "well-regulated". Everyone should not only assume > the duty of being armed, but the duty of learning how to competently > enforce the law. It is not that difficult. Police training should be > mandatory for everyone, armed or not.<br> <br> > -------- Original Message -------- > <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> > <tbody> > <tr> > <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Subject: </th> > <td>Duty not just to rescue but to defend implicit in militia > duty</td> > </tr> > <tr> > <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Date: </th> > <td>Tue, 21 Nov 2006 23:33:56 -0600</td> > </tr> > <tr> > <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">From: </th> > <td>Jon Roland <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" > href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"><[EMAIL PROTECTED] g></a></td> > </tr> > <tr> > <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Reply-To: </th> > <td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" > href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</a ></td> > </tr> > <tr> > <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Organization: > </th> > <td>Constitution Society</td> > </tr> > <tr> > <th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th> > <td>David Hyman <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" > href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"><[EMAIL PROTECTED]></a></td> > </tr> > </tbody> > </table> > <br> > <br> > <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" > http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> Been reading your paper on > the duty to rescue at <font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><a > href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=796384"; > class="textlink">http://ssrn.com/abstract=796384</a> > . </font>I suggest that there is a larger body of legal theory around > the concept of militia that is neglected in your paper. See <a > class="moz-txt-link-freetext" > > href="http://www.constitution.org/cs_defen.htm";>http://www.constitution. org/cs_defen.htm</a> > where I argue that militia is > just the duty that comes with the social contract and involves the > legally enforceable duty to defend the community. Just because the > state of the law has devolved from the Founding Era doesn't mean the > foundation is not still in place.<br> <pre class="moz-signature" > cols="82">-- Jon > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Constitution Society 7793 Burnet Road #37, Austin, TX 78757 > 512/299-5001 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" > href="http://www.constitution.org";>www.constitution.org</a> <a > class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" > > href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]< > /a> > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > </pre> > <br> > <pre class="moz-signature" cols="82">-- > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Constitution Society 7793 Burnet Road #37, Austin, TX 78757 > 512/299-5001 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" > href="http://www.constitution.org";>www.constitution.org</a> <a > class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" > href="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]< > /a> > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > </pre> > </body> > </html> > ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
