Commentary: Although he politely bade me good morning, his clothing was a little odd: reminiscent of a 19th century cowboy from a movie, except for the very modern handgun openly displayed on his hip.
The Jeffersonian distinction between “liberty” and “freedom” goes something like this: liberty is something you are free to do while freedom, in Thomas Jefferson’s writing, typically refers to being free from oppression or tyranny. Thus, while liberty is one of the inalienable rights mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, it has never been the case that liberty is absolute.
Liberty is subject to limits even in the view of the Declaration’s principal author. As Jefferson wrote in a letter, “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.” To exercise an old saw, my liberty to swing my fist ends at your nose. Through this small accommodation, the enthusiastic fist-swinger is still free to swing but within a limit, so that his neighbor remains free to breathe through an uninjured nose.
Moving from the comical example to how people behave in the real world, this gets turned the other way around. Liberty-takers frequently demand, and typically get, accommodations from others around them. If you have ever suffered passively while your entire house shakes because of an automobile with an invasively loud stereo system, you know what I mean. Perhaps you are the rare person who approached that vehicle and asked them to accommodate you (or your sleeping family) by turning the volume down – and you were met with outrage. Perhaps you considered calling the police, only to feel guilty for making trouble or for calling officers away from more important business. Maybe, instead, you grumbled and accommodated, like most people do.
This week, I was in a waiting room while my car was being serviced, and in walked that man who reminded me somewhat of Hondo Lane, gun at his hip. Let it be known that I neither fear nor dislike guns, and used to own a shotgun myself. Also, in New Mexico, “open carry” is legal and does not require a permit. You can walk into a coffee shop armed without proving your competence or sound judgment to a soul. (Many New Mexicans routinely carry concealed weapons, but if they are loaded you need a license.)
Aside from choosing to wear a sidearm to Sisbarro’s, this fellow did not behave strangely. Yet he had my unswerving attention. Unable to read minds, I could glean little about his intent or judgment. In some situations, a gun is clearly appropriate; but among people reading out-of-date magazines waiting for an oil change, the purpose of displaying a weapon is less clear. Yielding the benefit of the doubt, his intentions might have been completely honorable, as when some people in another era wore guns – and, before that, swords. Yet knowing what a gun can do in unsteady hands, and thinking this a weird context, I remained vigilantly aware of him the entire time we shared this room.
Who, in this situation, was accommodating whom; and who was swinging their fist? If I did not feel safe I could of course leave the room, and allow my armed neighbor to dominate a shared space. Yes, the unarmed can accommodate the liberties of the armed if they feel unsafe, but in that scenario, are both people truly free? Or is freedom for the armed?
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Algernon D’Ammassa writes the Desert Sage column for the Deming Headlight and Sun News papers. Share your thoughts atadammassa@demingheadlight.com.