![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Guns of Mars
Jul. 10th, 2015 11:06 amOne of the things about writing science fiction is that it's really very difficult to not write about politics. Politics, simply put, defines what much of we do and how we do it. In nations with authoritarian regimes, avoiding interaction with the police is highly desirable, difficult and something everybody does. In nations with weak court systems, avoiding being cheated in business dealings is difficult. So for my books set on Mars I needed to think about what political system I would apply and how it would work. Since I write action novels with pirates and crooks, I had to decide on gun policy for civilians.
A total ban on guns won't work in an industrial society, even one without 3-D printers. The same tools used to make toasters can be used to make a gun. So how does one decide who gets a gun? At the same time, I decided that Mars' early history consisted of a pair of invasions bookending a series of off-planet wars. I also looked at what I thought the American Founding Fathers had meant when they talked about a "well-regulated militia."
I decided the default policy on Mars is that to own a gun one needs to be a member of the state militia. Said member doesn't have to be a "drilling" member, so they don't have a uniform or a unit, but the do have some affiliation with the local militia. I also decided that the militia is not the US National Guard, which is defacto a Federal reserve army with some State gloss, but that the Martian Militia is fully under the control (and budget) of the states.
Since I'm not a fan of open carry, that's generally prohibited, unless going to or from a militia event, and I'm leaning towards concealed carry being a separate level within the militia. In short, the Martian Militia has teeth.
A total ban on guns won't work in an industrial society, even one without 3-D printers. The same tools used to make toasters can be used to make a gun. So how does one decide who gets a gun? At the same time, I decided that Mars' early history consisted of a pair of invasions bookending a series of off-planet wars. I also looked at what I thought the American Founding Fathers had meant when they talked about a "well-regulated militia."
I decided the default policy on Mars is that to own a gun one needs to be a member of the state militia. Said member doesn't have to be a "drilling" member, so they don't have a uniform or a unit, but the do have some affiliation with the local militia. I also decided that the militia is not the US National Guard, which is defacto a Federal reserve army with some State gloss, but that the Martian Militia is fully under the control (and budget) of the states.
Since I'm not a fan of open carry, that's generally prohibited, unless going to or from a militia event, and I'm leaning towards concealed carry being a separate level within the militia. In short, the Martian Militia has teeth.
