Why do people confuse legal with free for everybody

As you may be aware, there have recently been quite a few threads about gun rights on ATS and I've noticed something strange; it seems like a lot of people mix up something being legal with something being free or easily affordable and available for everyone. I'm not taking a position here on guns, it can be anything. I've seen people do the same thing when marijuana legalization comes up--as though there will just be free pot stations all around. Just because something is legal doesn't make it cheap or readily available, much less free for everyone upon request.
End of rant

It's along the same lines as people confusing "equality of opportunity" with "equality of achievement." People prefer to think their failures are attributable to lack of opportunity rather then the lack of their ability to achieve. It must be someone else's fault.

reply to post by TruthSeekerMike


Well when you use the words RIGHTS you are implying something different than a PRIVILEGE ...

one can be regulated with discrimination....the other cannot...

They didn't name it the "Bill of Privileges"...but our government and many others it has convinced think that is exactly what it means...

reply to post by Sly1one


Excellent point. I think most people, as a result of their conditioning, do not understand the major difference between rights and privileges. The Bill of Rights didn't give anything, it enumerated some basic god-given human rights that governments had been known to violate and attempted to protect from the same thing happening again.

reply to post by Sly1one


Very well put, and I hope that people start to realize the differences between rights and privileges.

The entire notion that we have to have "licenses" for something that is supposed to be considered a right is ludicrous.