Good article in the American Thinker on Jan 9 2013 Articles: Guns Are Designed to Kill
No doubt the founders accepted the natural right of self-defense, but that was not why they proposed the Second Amendment. They had just prevailed in a war won largely with civilian-owned firearms. The shot heard round the world was fired to resist a British attempt to disarm Americans. The British army, accustomed to an unarmed British countryside, was surprised by an armed and largely hostile American populace. The founders wanted to protect Americans' ability to resist oppression. If we wish to retain our freedoms, we must retain that ability.
This is the point where sophisticates roll their eyes. Armed resistance to oppression? Really? In the 21st century? Yes, really, in the 21st century. Most gun controllers, being of the left, cannot conceive of a threat to civil liberties from the present administration. But the same people claimed fear of "Darth" Chaney. On the other hand, they think that Obama's sidekick Bill Ayers, the former Weatherman, is merely colorful.
We need not argue which side of the cultural divide poses the bigger threat to civil liberties. Both sides think the other is a threat. So both sides must accept the existence of threats to civil liberties.
Next, gun controllers argue that no civilian militia could hope to stand up to a modern military. With no apparent irony, they make this argument right after arguing there is no justification for civilians owning semiautomatic weapons such as an AR-15 or any weapon with a magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds.
Irony aside, we need not expect a civilian militia to stand up to a modern military in a pitched battle. As we know from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as from Vietnam, not all resistance is in pitched battles. Take, for example, the Warsaw Ghetto. With few arms, the Jewish resistance greatly complicated the task of the Nazis. Of course, the episode ended badly for the Jews, but how likely is it that the American military or even police departments would be complicit in an extermination program? And shouldn't we be sorry that the Warsaw Jews had only as many weapons as they did? If only they had had many more.
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No doubt the founders accepted the natural right of self-defense, but that was not why they proposed the Second Amendment. They had just prevailed in a war won largely with civilian-owned firearms. The shot heard round the world was fired to resist a British attempt to disarm Americans. The British army, accustomed to an unarmed British countryside, was surprised by an armed and largely hostile American populace. The founders wanted to protect Americans' ability to resist oppression. If we wish to retain our freedoms, we must retain that ability.
This is the point where sophisticates roll their eyes. Armed resistance to oppression? Really? In the 21st century? Yes, really, in the 21st century. Most gun controllers, being of the left, cannot conceive of a threat to civil liberties from the present administration. But the same people claimed fear of "Darth" Chaney. On the other hand, they think that Obama's sidekick Bill Ayers, the former Weatherman, is merely colorful.
We need not argue which side of the cultural divide poses the bigger threat to civil liberties. Both sides think the other is a threat. So both sides must accept the existence of threats to civil liberties.
Next, gun controllers argue that no civilian militia could hope to stand up to a modern military. With no apparent irony, they make this argument right after arguing there is no justification for civilians owning semiautomatic weapons such as an AR-15 or any weapon with a magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds.
Irony aside, we need not expect a civilian militia to stand up to a modern military in a pitched battle. As we know from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as from Vietnam, not all resistance is in pitched battles. Take, for example, the Warsaw Ghetto. With few arms, the Jewish resistance greatly complicated the task of the Nazis. Of course, the episode ended badly for the Jews, but how likely is it that the American military or even police departments would be complicit in an extermination program? And shouldn't we be sorry that the Warsaw Jews had only as many weapons as they did? If only they had had many more.
Read more: Articles: Guns Are Designed to Kill
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
