Good commonsense protects our freedom

How many freedoms are Americans willing to sacrifice? How many decisions are we willing to let our government make for us? How many laws are on the books that wouldn’t be there if we all just used commonsense?
Let’s take texting while driving, for example. It’s a national epidemic.  According to The Center for Disease Control, one-third of today’s teens reported in a survey to texting while driving. There ought to be a law. Oh wait, there is. Roughly 44 states have enacted some form of texting-while-driving law. But it’s not just teens who participate in such activity.  I’m amazed at how many adults I see looking down at their laps with one hand on the wheel and their brain disengaged from road.
Other laws that take away our freedoms to use common sense include seat belt laws, public smoking laws, speeding laws, and driving without headlights laws. 
Thinking people will never get cited for violating them.  We really don’t think of them as a lessening of our freedoms.
Let’s take a look at laws that have had to be passed over the centuries that have taken away freedoms.
The second Amendment was ratified in 1791.  Governments have been trying to limit guns ever since, with great success. Gone are the days when Charles Ingalls would grab his shotgun and head out the door to protect his little house on the prairie.
For the most part gun laws have been put in place for our own protection. The National Firearms Act brought about the first major gun control in 1934.  It was established as a direct response to the rise in gangster violence. Since then there has been thousands of gun laws established at the Federal, State and Local levels. Each new law chinks away at our personal freedom to own guns.
During a recent news interview a proponent of open field target shooting was upset because his right to do so is being suppressed during this wicked fire season.  It was determined that some of these fires were caused by such activity.  His comment was something like, “Because of the carelessness of the few we all have to suffer.”
He drove home my point.  It is either because of carelessness, lack of common sense or sheer disrespect for human life that everyone’s rights are winnowed away.  Authorities have to protect us…from us.
The city of St. George made at least two mass telephone calls to residents to let us know that aerial fireworks were prohibited over July 4th due to the high fire danger.  There were still numbskulls shooting off aerial fireworks.  There was even a city-sponsored fireworks show.  Go figure.
As long as we continue to show our lack of commonsense and do stupid things, we will, little-by-little, give our freedoms to make good decisions over to government entities.  Eventually, we will become a people who is comfortable only when someone is thinking for us.  Soon we will become like the characters in Lois Lowry’s book, The Giver. 

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News writers group. She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com.