[MLeake]

So I was just enjoying a bit of a treat, when a thought occurred to me:

This World Market chocolate that I bought, milk chocolate with bacon in it, had to be pretty bad for me. Yet I did not have to show any form of ID in order to buy it, and other than FDA and business regulations, its manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer didn't have to jump any hurdles to put it in my hands. (More accurately, at this point, into my gullet.)

I also bought some very tasty beers there, including some Abita pecan beer. (Up until now, I had only seen pecan beer by Lazy Magnolia, so I guess Louisiana has decided to give Mississippi some competition.) I suppose I would have had to show ID, but I'm in my mid40's and don't look under 30, let alone under 21, so I rarely get carded.

Come to think of it, I didn't get carded the other day when I bought some dark rum.

I didn't need to show a driver's license, let alone a motorcycle endorsement (though I have both) when I picked up my Triumph 3-liter last August. I could very easily kill myself, a passenger, or other motorists or pedestrians with that thing. (809 lbs, 165 horsepower, 145 ft-lbs torque...)

If I smoked, I am quite sure I would not have to show an ID to buy tobacco products.

Oddly enough, chocolate, bacon, alcohol, and motorcycles are not mentioned specifically in the Bill of Rights.

Why, then, do I need my Missouri concealed weapons permit in order to carry; my Missouri driver's license in order to buy; and some cooperative Fed interpreting a database in order to receive?

I won't even get into the questions of why did the government trust me as pilot in command and mission commander of a $40M aircraft, or with weapons release authority delegated from the Commanding Officer aboard a Nimitz class carrier, but that same government gets nervous about my carry permit...

Something does seem rather irrational and hypocritical about the whole thing, though.