When the Law Breaks the Law

It's bad enough that the MO Department of Revenue keeps track of this stuff to mark operator licenses.  You can sort of make a case for turning this information over to law enforcement -- such as the Highway Patrol.  However, it is hard to understand how it might be legal or even useful for the MSHP to give the lists to the federal government via the Social Security Administration. 

I'm really shocked to learn that you can't trust your government.  One of the reasons I carry knives and other means of self-defense is because I have been reluctant to have my name put on a list as a person licensed to carry a concealed weapon.  I have a hard time figuring out why concealed carry permits are needed, and when the issuance of such permit leads to information being provided to government entities without the knowledge or permission of the permit holder, it makes the permit system seem more like a tracking and control system.

You know that if you provide information such as your address and phone number to a private company you are able to opt out of any solicitations by that company or its subsidiaries and affiliates.  On my ancient SSN card it specifically says that the SSN is not to be used for identification purposes.  It should not be on your driver's license.  You should not have to provide it to anyone except your employer and the government for tracking of Social Security and income tax contributions.  That's what it was for.  Other agencies do not need it.  I had a six-digit student identification number when I was in college -- which I can still recite after forty years -- not my SSN.

I do not advocate violating the law, though there are many laws that run contrary to the Constitution these days.  I think concealed carry permits violate the Second Amendment, as do most firearms laws.  I think it is perfectly reasonable for a private business to tell me to leave if I am carrying a firearm openly or to say that it doesn't desire my patronage if I am carrying concealed.  I don't even mind the folks down at the county courthouse telling me I can't enter the courthouse armed.  But that's about it.  Other than that, it's nobody's business but my own.  I'm seriously thinking about joining the open-carry folks -- legal here without a permit, just because MSHP is run by a bunch of Gestapo-wannabes.