When Robert Anton Wilson ran for governor of California in 2003, the central conceit was that most of the people who oppose restrictions on guns are right wingers, and most of the people who oppose the "war on some drugs" are on the left. So by opposing gun laws AND drug laws, a libertarian coalition could be formed.
Jacob Sullum, a writer for Reason magazine, is a writer I read often because of his reliably accurate news and commentary on the war on drugs. He also writes a lot about gun issues, although I am less interested in that issue and read those pieces less often.
In the course of a Twitter/X thread to promote Reason's current fund-raising webathon, Sullum reveals that he's working on a "guns and dope" book: "After 3 decades of covering drug & gun policies for@reason, I am writing a book that explores these themes, showing that left-leaning critics of the drug war and right-leaning critics of gun control, despite their ideological differences, share many of the same concerns."
It should be an interesting book.
Here is Jesse Walker promoting the webathon.
2 comments:
This is very exciting.
I can't see how the NRA can avoid eventually making this part of their platform: the right of the citizens to bear grenade launchers, flame-throwers, tactical missiles and nuclear weapons. If the citizens have the right to bear arms, they should have the right to bear as many arms as the government, or it's no defense against the government at all, and that whole argument is hollow.
– Robert Anton Wilson, Trajectories, 1990
• • •
In writing to the RAW Trust or Hilaritas Press or in writing I've seen online, some folks are cheering on RAW's apparent "love of guns." RAW had nuanced thoughts on the subject. He didn't like government control, but as seen in this quote, he was not against some control.
From my point of view, unlike drugs, that primarily can harm the user and no one else directly, guns are designed to harm the other. Seems like a different dynamic. You need a license to drive a car, but not to drink alcohol. That seems like a relationship to contemplate.
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