These Are the Times That Try Men's Souls

By Harriet Barovick, Tam Gray, Daniel Levy, Lina Lofaro, David Spitz, Flora Tartakovsky and Chris Taylor

It has been a confusing few weeks for those hoping to enjoy their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of guns and fashion. In Beverly Hills, Calif., an initiative approved for the May ballot calls for tags on new fur coats warning consumers that the animals used were possibly killed by "electrocution, gassing, neck breaking" or other means. A Lincoln Park, Mich., student is suing her high school, saying a dress code that forbids her to wear a pentagram violates her ability to practice her religion of witchery. Not far away, in Traverse City, Mich., a judge ruled that an 1897 state law against cursing in front of children is constitutional. A man charged with a foulmouthed fit near two youngsters after falling out of his canoe last summer can, if convicted, face a $100 fine and up to 90 days behind bars. Revolutionary War re-enactors in Massachusetts may also face serious gaol time. A state law banning assault weapons calls for the arrest of owners who don't have trigger guards on their firearm. It doesn't matter whether it is a deadly AK-47 or an old flintlock. How on earth did the National Rifle Association let that one get past them?