By KrisAnne Hall, JD

With major retailers such as Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods among others deciding to not selling semi-automatic rifles to people under 21 years old, many people are citing federal anti-discrimination laws as a way to stop these businesses from doing so.

Small government Americans ought to be very cautious about jumping on this bandwagon of government control.

It’s not an issue of the Second Amendment. It’s not a matter of whether we think that is a good idea or not. True freedom requires the allowance for good and bad ideas.

Liberty minded people should be opposed to any and all levels of government telling private business owners how to conduct their business; to whom they can or cannot sell their wares. This is exactly how we get ridiculous government intrusions like forcing cake bakers and photographers to do things contrary to their personal principles and religious freedoms — rather than allowing the free-market to reward or punish.

All private businesses should have the right to conduct business as they desire; they are private entities, not government agents. If some private business wants to refuse to serve me because of my race, gender, sexual orientation, or even the color of my hair; then individually and collectively you and I can take our patronage elsewhere.

Better yet, we can create an alternative — adversity promotes progress and innovation. To use the force of government to require a private business to conform to my personal desires or principles is definitely a form of fascism and tyranny.

In a free society it must be up to the free market to reward or punish a private business for good or bad decisions, not government. Any time government takes the role of the free market, the people cannot be free.

KrisAnne Hall is a former biochemist, Russian linguist for the US Army, and former prosecutor for the State of Florida. KrisAnne also practiced First Amendment Law for a prominent Florida non-profit Law firm. KrisAnne now travels the country teaching the foundational principles of Liberty and our Constitutional Republic. KrisAnne is the author of 6 books on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, she also has an internationally popular radio and television show and her books and classes have been featured on C-SPAN TV. KrisAnne can be found at www.KrisAnneHall.com.

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