I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t think anything in America should be prohibited if it’s only going to create a widespread black market among consenting adults. Regulated intelligently, sure, but not prohibited. That includes: drugs, guns, abortion, gambling and prostitution. (I limit this rule to America because a place like Japan seems to be fine with a lack of guns among its populace, so respect must be paid to cultural differences.)

The people of Pahrump, Nevada, go a step further, however. In this tiny unincorporated slice of Ron Paul country, the gun-loving locals are paranoid about police states and carry firearms everywhere, including government buildings. (Since the name of town is so odd, I challenge the locals to up the ante and rechristen it “Rifle Butt, Nevada.” That would do quite nicely.) Richard A. Oppel Jr. has a really good piece about Pahrump in the New York Times. An excerpt:

“This is the heart of Ron Paul country, the one county in Nevada that the 76-year-old congressman from Texas carried in the 2008 Republican caucuses, and a place that wears its libertarianism proudly.

It is also a place where many people come to be left alone. ‘There are a lot of people who hide in Pahrump,’ said Carl England Jr., who, as pastor of a Baptist church here and also proprietor of a local septic business, knows a lot about his neighbors.

Many people here have owned guns — even some, like Jerry Neese, who are scared of them — not necessarily for concerns about safety but to make a statement about living in a free country. ‘People believe in the rights they have, and want to show they believe in them,’ said Bonnie White, who owns Emmalee’s Guns and Emporium (named for her granddaughter) and sells 500 guns a year. ‘People will fight for their rights here.'”