Can I see your license, please?

Let me talk about licenses and permits. For what do you need either or both of those 2 things?

• To drive a car
• To get married
• To fish
• To operate a boat
• To put a movable sign on the streets of Newburyport
• To build or expand or renovate a house
• To dump trash or recycling at a city facility
• To own a dog
• To operate a business
• To own a gun

I'm sure there are many others that I've left out - and that's not even mentioning certificates: birth certificates, death certificates, etc.

Now Bubba comments on my other post (here) about the waterways permit suggests that we may not need the old gun permit or building permit. I'm not sure if he was being serious, but I think he was. He makes a valid point.

I'm on the fence about gun permits, because real bad guys usually don't apply for them. Of course, I trend towards outright bans on citizens being armed, but guns scare me. I do understand the 'pro' argument, however.

But building permits? Without building permits, someone could do any old thing they want, such as building a second deck on their home ... I ask you isn't that rather excessive?

Kidding Bubba aside, a city needs to have some control over what the city is going to look like, if there is a building free-for-all. I could tack on a tar paper lean-to out back. I sure could use the added room.

And of course, there is a need for a city to generate revenue in those 'cute' little ways.