The Jews In The Attic Test

By Joe Huffman @ http://blog.joehuffman.org/

The Jews In The Attic Test

To the best of my knowledge I am the originator of this test and the name I use to describe it.  It first came about in 1999 while I was working with Cease Fear (Cease Fear predates The Pink Pistols by about a year although the Pink Pistols is far more successful).  We were putting hand-outs in the shops in the Capital Hill area of Seattle for NRA Refuse to Be A Victim and Home Firearm Safety classes.  The Capital Hill area is well known LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Trans-sexual) community in the Seattle area.  Our goal was to teach people of the LGBT community how to defend themselves against people who would attack them (gay-bashings).   Several of the others and I in Cease Fear were certified NRA firearms instructors and were willing to donate our time to help make their lives safer.  One of the discussions we had amongst ourselves as we walked from shop to shop was how to explain to others how important our right to keep and bear arms was to our freedom.  People tend to understand the importance of freedom of speech and the freedom of the press pretty well and some of the other rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.  But the Second Amendment was and is viewed as unimportant and perhaps even counterproductive by many in today's society.  I explained to the others in my little band of activists that I looked at all laws that restricted freedom with a view to the impact it would have in a worst case scenario of our government run amok.  Will this law make it difficult or impossible to protect innocent life from a government intent on their imprisonment or death?  Although I pretty much made everything up on the spot I told them I called this test my "Jews In The Attic Test".  Furthermore I told them that if it fails this test no further discussion is really needed, the law must be opposed in the most vigorous manner possible.

Some laws that fail the test and why:

	Government mandated ID cards and the authority to demand them at any time.  The oppressed class will be unable to masquerade as a member of the neutral or oppressor classes.
	Searches without probable cause.  Imagine you are attempting to smuggle your "Jews in the attic" to a safer hiding place.  If the police at the roadblock can search all vehicles then you and your precious cargo are headed to the "work camps".
	Government monopoly on medical care.  This is a bit surprising -- isn't it?  If it is illegal for you to pay someone for anonymous health care then how can your "Jews in the attic" receive health care?
	Firearm or firearm owner registration.   The registration information can be used to confiscate the firearms used to protect innocent life -- as it was under the 1938 Weapons Control Act in Nazi Germany.
	Elimination or severe restriction of anonymous financial transactions.  The purchase of food and other supplies for your "Jews in the attic" would show up in the records as being excessive compared to what your needs were.  Just as power consumption records are used today to catch home marijuana growers.

I continue to use this test to this day and advocate its widespread use by others.

Last update: February 11, 2009
Email: Joe Huffman