Is there a difference ...

... between a thing being illegal, and being against the law:

MikeB is also an admitted criminal, as he illegally carried firearms in his past.

Now I know that those two descriptions are very similar, but I do make a distinction.

To me, something that is illegal, is intuitively wrong, like stealing. On the other hand, one might find that defending yourself from attack is against the law, but certainly not illegal.

And yes, I know that one begets the other, and I'm splitting hairs, but do you see where I'm coming from?

As a 2nd amendment absolutist, I could care less if MikeB carries a gun or not; what concerns me is the event of his using his firearm illegally. Same goes for convicted felons, who, likely as not, carry whether it's against the law or not.

Am I making sense?

pm