shooting the breeze

Yes, there has been a tragedy. Yes, gun control is a bit of a joke.

But, you know what the answer isn’t… making identity theft easier.

Yes, the freaked out politicians are all over the TV talking about how there should be “instant background checks” every time you buy bullets. I’m not entirely sure what this means. But I’m pretty sure it means giving your SSN and other valuable identifying info to the guy behind the counter at K-Mart who makes minimum wage and doesn’t give a damn about protecting your info.

Let’s say I suddenly decide to take up hunting, or decide to plan a girl’s night out at the shooting gallery, or dingos threaten to steal my babies. There are already guns in my family that I can use. And if I ever felt like buying a gun, you know it would be from somewhere hardcore, probably from some crazy ex veteran who’s more concerned about the man trying to steal my info than I am. But, the ammo is quite a different story. By design it’s disposable, single use, and cheap. And the people selling it don’t have to be smart, knowledgeable or conscientious.

With the way identity theft is going in this country, it’s hard to believe that companies, institutions and governments continue to ask for more info and get away with it. This is the sort of thing that really makes me curious about law school. I would love to be on the forefront of pressuring people to collect less data, protect it more, and make identity theft easier to ID and fix. On the other hand, I don’t want to plunge back into the depression I had last spring when I was taking the Information Secrecy class where I lovingly referred to my final paper as "fun with wiretapping."

So, as bumper stickers will soon say: when they outlaw bullets, only outlaws will have bullets.