Watauga County wishes to regulate gates on gated communities. A public hearing will be held this Tuesday. The reason, of course, is the usual suspect, safety. It is alleged that the roadways must be wide enough to admit emergency vehicles, and the gates must be operable by public safety officials. In the event of an emergency (like a blackout with extensive looting), the gates would have to remain open. In addition, the county will receive revenues by inspecting the gates annually and charging $200/day fines for noncompliance. One of many underlying premises here is that officials would never abuse their powers.