More Regulations to Come?

I am not a smoker and in fact I despise it. I also believe secondhand smoke is disgusting at best and perhaps harmful to one’s health at worst.

But I also firmly believe in the individual’s right to smoke if they so choose. By the same token I firmly believe in a business owner’s right to restrict or not allow smoking in their establishment. This is how freedom is supposed to work — law-abiding citizens respecting each other’s individual liberties.

But what I find more disgusting than secondhand smoke is the government imposing regulations on its people under the guise of “what is good” for them. I know this will cause some eye rolling and snickering, but it won’t be long before we start banning or restricting the use of trans-fat cooking oil, salt, soda and guns for the same reasons given to ban smoking.

Look no farther than New York and California if you are in doubt. Preserving individual freedoms and liberty is not easy and it can be messy at times, but that is how the Framers intended it to be. So if you are going to do a victory dance about the new smoking ban, why don’t you unfurl Old Glory and dance on it — that way you won’t get the bottom of your shoes dirty.