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You can have our guns – when you pry them from our cold, dead hands
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What do left-wing radicals have in common with Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and sundry other military dictators? They want to disarm the people.
A movement is underway in our country to undermine the Second Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms.” I’m not talking about simple gun control measures like restrictive concealed weapon permits or firearm purchase waiting periods-these are fairly reasonable measures that protect the public from homicidal maniacs. There are people who literally want to confiscate and outlaw firearms in their entirety.
Last week, in spite of opposition from law enforcement and the media, San Franciscans approved Proposition H, which outlaws the purchase, sale, and ownership of all firearms and ammunition within city limits. Similar laws can be found in Chicago and Washington DC.
I find it difficult to understand why these people are so openly hostile to manifestly obvious constitutional liberties. If liberals protected the second amendment with half the zeal invested to defend the murder of unborn children, every American would be armed with thermonuclear weapons (with the dual right to detonate without parental or spousal notification, of course).
For those unfamiliar with the Second Amendment, it’s somewhat important to the success of the American experiment.
The Founders did not justify its inclusion in the Bill of Rights simply because “some people like to hunt” or “guns are fun to play with.” They qualified the amendment as a right “necessary to the security of a free State.”
The implications of this statement are threefold:
First, the security of a free people rests in their ability to resist tyranny. The Founders clearly argued in the Declaration of Independence that governments are instituted among men to protect rights, deriving their powers from consent of the people, and that when governments become destructive to this end [protecting rights], the people have the right to revolt.
How can an unarmed nation resist tyrannical government? – It can’t. That’s why dictators consolidate their power by disarming their subjects and arming a loyal military. Popular armament is the only tenable defense against despotism.
Second, personal security can only be guaranteed when people are entitled to a credible defense. In other words, a great way to deter criminals is to arm the population.
I would venture to assume that burglars, rapists, and other criminals are more willing to victimize an unarmed woman in Washington DC than a Texas cowgirl who might be packing enough heat to invade France.
And aside from their deterrent characteristics, firearms provide a very effective defense when needed. If and when law enforcement fails-as it did in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters and crises-the only security individuals have against malicious criminals can be found in personal firearms.
Finally, popular armament deters and protects against foreign invasion. The fact that the Revolutionary War was fought by citizen militias with personal firearms rather than a professional army speaks volumes about the Founders’ persuasions on this matter. They saw an armed populace as a powerful tool against hostile invasions, whether from the British, the French, or indigenous populations.
If any lesson can be learned from the Vietnam War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Chechen resistance movement, it’s that citizen resistance can be very effective.
Despite overwhelming technological and tactical advantages, modern militaries have been roundly defeated by highly determined, lightly armed militias. Any nation that would invade the United States would have to reckon with the reality of a harsh resistance marked by prolonged urban warfare and guerilla terrorism.
Disarmament of the American people is simply an inane and manifestly dangerous proposition.
BRANDON STOKER
Opinion Writer
