I do not have to ask your permission to be armed on your land or in your home. In my state I have the absolute right to be armed.
Ok, enough fooling around. You said you were from Kentucky. Looking up the law in Kentucky (see
References):
In
general, "there isn't any protected right to shoot trespassers... That's for crossing your property lines. If someone breaks into your
house, that's not
trespassing. That's
B & E. In most locations, if you are inside the house, you have the right to protect yourself by the use of force, up to and including deadly force, against an intruder" (Johnson, S.).
And yet, the Kentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter511, defines criminal trespass as someone who "knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling" (Kentucky Constitution, 2019). The reference notes signage is pretty much N/A in Kentucky.
By contrast, "Colorado no trespassing laws are found in
Title 18 Article 4 Part 502 – 504 of Colorado’s Revised Statutes. Trespassing occurs when someone “knowingly and unlawfully enters or remains” in or on a property in which they don’t have authorization or license to do so. Trespassing can either be a felony in criminal situations or a misdemeanor in other instances" (Heap, 2013).
Since Colorado citizens have lawful authority to arrest someone who commits a misdemeanor, I
could arrest a person who was crossing my property. Whether I would actually do so or not is an entirely different matter. If they're passing through once, I'd look the other way. If they make it a habit, I'd given them a video recorded verbal warning, followed by a recorded written warning, then call the cops. If they chose not to interfere, I'd detain or arrest them and call the cops again. On the other hand, if I caught someone on my property taking firewood, I'd arrest them on the spot.
This will not be an exhaustive essay. Rather, I'm going to quote portions applicable to your claim, "In my state I have the absolute right to be armed," as opposed to a right limited by time, location, or situation. Also, I'm taking "armed" to mean "with a firearm" commensurate with the nature of these OCDO forums, as well as "capable of firing a live round," as an unloaded gun is little more than a paperweight.
Let's begin with "the supreme Law of the Land" aka The Constitution for the United States of America: "
Amendment II: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" (National Archives, 2019).
Seems pretty clear to me, and if I'm not mistaken, we both agree it's absolute.
Kentucky law: OC requires no permit, but CC does (09jisaac, 2012). That's a restriction/infringement, ergo, being armed in your state is not absolute, but restricted and conditional.
You cannot carry loaded in a bar (244.125, Kentucky General Assembly, 2019). That's another restriction/condition, so again, your claim that your right to be armed in Kentucky is absolute is again in error. You also cannot carry into a K-12 school. 527.070 says you must leave your firearms in your vehicle. Same goes for work, unless your employer authorizes carry (it's his property).
As per .115 Construction of KRS 237.110, you cannot carry into government buildings (Kentucky General Assembly, 2019).
Bunches more. See
References, below. Loads counters your "absolute right" claim.
I found it interesting that Section 219 of the Kentucky State Constitution says "the militia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall consist of all able-bodied male residents of the State between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such persons as may be exempted by the laws of the State or of the United States" (Constitution of Kentucky, 2019).
As a catch-all, here's a list of areas where you most certainly do not have an absolute right to carry (GLBS, 2019):
CRIMINAL PROVISIONS
Under Kentucky law, a license to carry a handgun is not valid in any of the following places or circumstances, whether it was issued by Kentucky, or a person is carrying pursuant to a reciprocity between his or her state of license and Kentucky:
- Any police station or sheriff’s office
- A detention facility, prison or jail
- The portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcohol for consumption on the premises, where that part of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose
- A courthouse, solely occupied by the Court of Justice courtroom, or court proceeding
- A school, including elementary, secondary, or day-care facility
- Any part of an airport subject to inspection of persons and property
- Universities may ban the carrying of weapons on their premises
- The law does not prohibit the owners of private land to exclude individuals carrying firearms. Failure to leave private land when asked could result in criminal trespass charges [http://gunla.ws/s5rh]
- Any place prohibited by federal law
Thus, in closing, I would like to restate your claim one last time:
In my state I have the absolute right to be armed.
As we have seen, with an abundance of clarity, citations, and references, that is a a false statement.
I would be happy to entertain any revised statements. My own statement would sound something like this:
While God gave us all the inherent right to preserve life, limb, and property, a fact reflected in our Constitutional Second Amendment's prohibition against any infringement on the right of the people to keep and bear arms, both the federal and statement governments have indeed infringed on our right to keep and bears to the extent where, as a practical matter, I have to decide between frequenting those few locations where carrying firearms are prohibited and carrying firearms.
In some instances, such as obtaining medical care on base and serving jury duty, I simply do not have a choice. I must disarm.
In the meantime, if you'd like, link this page and enjoy the references.
References
09jisaac. (2012). Kentucky gun laws (and others). Open Carry dot org. Retrieved from:
https://forum.opencarry.org/index.php?threads/kentucky-gun-laws.99708/
GLBS. (2019). Kentucky gun laws. Retrieved from:
https://www.gunlawsbystate.com/law/states/kentucky-gun-laws
HandgunLaw.us. (n.d.). Kentucky. Retrieved from:
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/kentucky.pdf
Heap, D. (2013). State by state guide to no trespassing laws & signage. Signs.com. Retrieved from:
https://www.signs.com/blog/state-by-state-guide-to-no-trespassing-laws-signage/
Johnson, S. (2015). What is the legality behind the "Trespassers Will Be Shot" sign? Quora. Retrieved from:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-legality-behind-the-Trespassers-Will-Be-Shot-sign
Kentucky General Assembly. (2019). Kentucky Revised Statutes. Retrieved from:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/
Kentucky General Assembly. (2019). Constitution of Kentucky, including amendments ratified at the November 6, 2012 general election. Retrieved from:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/constitution
Kentucky Government. (n.d.). White paper on open carry of firearms and concealed deadly weapons law in Kentucky. Retrieved from:
https://docjt.ky.gov/legal/documents/WhitePaperonOpenCarryandCarryingv2.pdf
National Archives. (2019). The Constitution of the United States: A transcription. Retrieved from:
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
NRA-ILA. (2014). Kentucky gun laws. Retrieved from:
https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-gun-laws/kentucky/