Don’t Bring Your Guns to Town

From The New York Times, October 5, 2010:

Handgun permit holders who have recently seen their rights greatly expanded by a new law — one of the nation’s first — that allows them to carry loaded firearms into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol… Tennessee is one of four states, along with Arizona, Georgia and Virginia, that recently enacted laws explicitly allowing loaded guns in bars. Previously, states like Tennessee did not allow its residents to carry concealed weapons unless they had a special permit from the local authorities.

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I was troubled when Arizona recently passed legislation to remove the requirement to obtain a concealed weapons permit to, well, carry a concealed weapon on one’s person.  Carrying a loaded weapon in a bar is much worse. It is a profoundly bad idea. That is a blatant statement of opinion. However, I am a rifle marksmanship enthusiast and dearly miss my wood-stock, .22 Remington bolt-action long rifle that I sold when I went off to attend the Wharton School. I am not biased against the Second Amendment. Yet I do think this law shows a serious breach of common sense.

Discretion is the Better Part of Valor

This paraphrased list of “Do and Don’t” was targeted specifically to secure exchange of sensitive financial information. However, these are generally applicable suggestions for law-abiding people who don’t want to blather their personal business all over the internet:

1. Don’t email directly from work.
2. If emailing using work resources does not violate your employer’s network security policies, use a web mail provider that offers SSL encrypted browsing. Ever heard of hushmail.com?
3. Don’t use your employer’s resources for personal communications of a sensitive nature e.g. to your attorney.
4. Use robust encryption, such as PGP keys for email (PGP = Pretty Good Privacy?)
5. If you use Instant Message, a secure chat client will give peace of mind.

How to [ Read/ Tip Off ] Zero Hedge Without Attracting The Interest Of [ Human Resources / The Treasury / Black Helicopters ]

Also recommended for those considering front-running of frozen orange-juice futures.