The right to own guns, 2nd amendment

[Dr Grump]

Our King tried to take away our firearms.

We don't have a king anymore.

no, it was being taxed without representation....

 

[williepete]

The police and military will always be stronger then some citizens even with a gun.

It wasn't always so. The founding of the U.S. is an example. The British Empire was the most powerful economic and military power in the world. We were part of that empire.

Yet a few stubborn farmers armed with simple weapons and steely resolve created a country that still continues to this day its experiment in self government.

Thanks for your curiosity.

 

[Mortimer]

The police and military will always be stronger then some citizens even with a gun.

It wasn't always so. The founding of the U.S. is an example. The British Empire was the most powerful economic and military power in the world. We were part of that empire.

Yet a few stubborn farmers armed with simple weapons and steely resolve created a country that still continues to this day its experiment in self government.

Thanks for your curiosity.

true, thanks for your insight.

 

[Wyld Kard]

Why is it so important for "freedom"? I dont get that really, never owned a gun, and never felt unfree. Actually I would feel uncomfortable if many people in my street owned guns, in Texas even students go with guns to University. Maybe America is a land of criminals that law abiding citizens need guns to protect themselfes but not in Austria. We are a secure and peaceful country.

The Second Amendment is the most important right, because it keeps the government from being able to impose tyranny.

Without the Second Amendment all the others are useless, it is a guarantee to the people that we have the right to bear arms, it keeps the government from taking away our rights, because we can resist.

 

[williepete]

Mortimer,

Thanks again for your curiosity. This topic of private citizens owning firearms is what makes our country unique in the world. We rebelled against our King because we felt our rights as Englishmen were being trampled. Our King chose to disarm us rather than respect our rights. When he did this, our rebellion turned into a revolution. You may have heard of "The shot heard around the world". If not, it's an interesting lesson for government leaders.

We don't have a king anymore.

Massachusetts Colony was a hotbed of sedition in the spring of 1775. Preparations for conflict with the Royal authority had been underway throughout the winter with the production of arms and munitions, the training of militia (including the minutemen), and the organization of defenses. In April, General Thomas Gage, military governor of Massachusetts decided to counter these moves by sending a force out of Boston to confiscate weapons stored in the village of Concord and capture patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock reported to be staying in the village of Lexington.

Battle at Lexington Green, 1775

 

[MikeK]

ok makes sense to some degree. a armed population is less easy to controll then a unarmed population.

In the context of resistance to government oppression simply having a gun does not mean one is armed. In this context being armed is a state of mind.

Still, the more guns in the hands of the People the better. Because government has no way of knowing how many are truly armed and how many just own guns.

 

[007]

America is "free" BECAUSE we have guns, and will STAY free as long as we keep them.

Next question?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Its better to not have a gun because you dont need one.

I have four

 

[007]

 

[MikeK]

Ok but why do you want a gun? I like sports shooting and maybe because of attraction value like you own a nice watch etc. But I dont need a gun for my safety and thats good. Do you need a gun for your safety? And doesnt more guns create a hostile environment like one guy in the room is aggressive and that turns out to make others aggressive too, a action and reaction if now everyone has a gun doesnt it lead to more killings?

That passive philosophy has been drilled into the minds of contemporary Germans. The result is what we saw on New Years Eve, 2015, in Cologne.

An even sadder example is what has happened to Sweden.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Why is it so important for "freedom"? I dont get that really, never owned a gun, and never felt unfree. Actually I would feel uncomfortable if many people in my street owned guns, in Texas even students go with guns to University. Maybe America is a land of criminals that law abiding citizens need guns to protect themselfes but not in Austria. We are a secure and peaceful country.

I want a gun.

I have a right guaranteed by the Constitution to own and carry a gun.

Ergo ...

Ok but why do you want a gun? I like sports shooting and maybe because of attraction value like you own a nice watch etc. But I dont need a gun for my safety and thats good. Do you need a gun for your safety? And doesnt more guns create a hostile environment like one guy in the room is aggressive and that turns out to make others aggressive too, a action and reaction if now everyone has a gun doesnt it lead to more killings?

No it does not. That argument has been used and reused by the gun grabbers for ever every time a new State passed concealed carry or open carry. Guess what? Crime went DOWN not up.

 

[Wyld Kard]

T

Why is it so important for "freedom"? I dont get that really, never owned a gun, and never felt unfree. Actually I would feel uncomfortable if many people in my street owned guns, in Texas even students go with guns to University. Maybe America is a land of criminals that law abiding citizens need guns to protect themselfes but not in Austria. We are a secure and peaceful country.

Tell you what I won't try and tell you how to run your Country and you don't try and tell us how to run ours. OK?

I dont tell you how to run your country, Im just curious why gun ownership is so important to be "free". Is it to practice sports shooting or hunting etc.? Otherwise I dont see why you need a "gun" you need a "gun" if you want to kill someone otherwise you dont need one. I just want to understand.

How about for protection and self-defense? Those are two good reasons for the need of a "gun".

 

[MikeK]

Hi. Thanks for explanation, historically it does make sense. I have nothing against gun ownership really, Im just curious why a law abiding citizen wants a gun (even if I dont question his right to have one but if I can have a gun why would I want one even if not fearing for my safety maybe for sports shooting?). And do you really think if Jews in Nazi Germany had Guns the holocaust wouldnt happen? The police and military will always be stronger then some citizens even with a gun.

In 1943, about 200 Warsaw Ghetto Jews got hold of guns, very ordinary rifles and handguns. They carried out what is known today as the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance, during which they held off a full Regiment of Germans for a full month, killing hundreds of them.

Imagine how history would have been changed if all or most of the Jews in 1930s Germany had guns. Do you think the Hitler gang would even have attempted anything like the Holocaust if there were hundreds of thousands of armed Jews to contend with? Of course the Wehrmacht would eventually have wiped the Jews out -- but would it be worth the effort and the loss to them? That is the question in all such conflicts.

If you'd like to learn more about that bit of WW-II history, Google up Warsaw Ghetto Resistance.

 

[ding]

Gun Ownership: Why No One Invades Switzerland

 

[2aguy]

Why is it so important for "freedom"? I dont get that really, never owned a gun, and never felt unfree. Actually I would feel uncomfortable if many people in my street owned guns, in Texas even students go with guns to University. Maybe America is a land of criminals that law abiding citizens need guns to protect themselfes but not in Austria. We are a secure and peaceful country.

Keeps criminals from terrorizing citizens...like in Mexico....keeps polticians from terrorizing citizens...like Cuba....Russia, China, Iran, .......

An armed citizenry checks the power of the state.......

 

[2aguy]

Hi. Thanks for explanation, historically it does make sense. I have nothing against gun ownership really, Im just curious why a law abiding citizen wants a gun (even if I dont question his right to have one but if I can have a gun why would I want one even if not fearing for my safety maybe for sports shooting?). And do you really think if Jews in Nazi Germany had Guns the holocaust wouldnt happen? The police and military will always be stronger then some citizens even with a gun.

In 1943, about 200 Warsaw Ghetto Jews got hold of guns, very ordinary rifles and handguns. They carried out what is known today as the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance, during which they held off a full Regiment of Germans for a full month, killing hundreds of them.

Imagine how history would have been changed if all or most of the Jews in 1930s Germany had guns. Do you think the Hitler gang would even have attempted anything like the Holocaust if there were hundreds of thousands of armed Jews to contend with? Of course the Wehrmacht would eventually have wiped the Jews out -- but would it be worth the effort and the loss to them? That is the question in all such conflicts.

If you'd like to learn more about that bit of WW-II history, Google up Warsaw Ghetto Resistance.

And think...if the Germans in general had guns, the socialist brown shirts would have faced armed citizens who could have stopped them when they beat up, murdered and intimidated their political opposition.......

 

[2aguy]

Why is it so important for "freedom"? I dont get that really, never owned a gun, and never felt unfree. Actually I would feel uncomfortable if many people in my street owned guns, in Texas even students go with guns to University. Maybe America is a land of criminals that law abiding citizens need guns to protect themselfes but not in Austria. We are a secure and peaceful country.

I want a gun.

I have a right guaranteed by the Constitution to own and carry a gun.

Ergo ...

Ok but why do you want a gun? I like sports shooting and maybe because of attraction value like you own a nice watch etc. But I dont need a gun for my safety and thats good. Do you need a gun for your safety? And doesnt more guns create a hostile environment like one guy in the room is aggressive and that turns out to make others aggressive too, a action and reaction if now everyone has a gun doesnt it lead to more killings?

In the 1990s we had 200 million guns in private hands...and in 1997 there were 4.7 million Americans carrying guns for self defense.....in 2016 we now have 357-400 million guns in private hands and close to 15 million people carrying guns for self defense....

Our gun murder rate went down 49%...........

In Mexico...the army owns the only gun store and they keep normal, law abiding people from buying guns there.......10s of thousands of Mexican citizens just south of our border have been murdered by the police and military of the Mexican government as they work as allies to the Mexican drug cartels.....

An armed population keeps the criminal population under control...

 

[2aguy]

Hi Mortimer,

Thanks for the thread. If you are really interested, you may find reading about the founding of the U.S. interesting. We were British Colonials standing up for our rights as British subjects we felt were being trampled. That rebellion turned into a revolution which turned into an experiment in self government which still continues.

The spark that lit the fuse is as simple as this:

Our King tried to take away our firearms.

We don't have a king anymore.

Hi. Thanks for explanation, historically it does make sense. I have nothing against gun ownership really, Im just curious why a law abiding citizen wants a gun (even if I dont question his right to have one but if I can have a gun why would I want one even if not fearing for my safety maybe for sports shooting?). And do you really think if Jews in Nazi Germany had Guns the holocaust wouldnt happen? The police and military will always be stronger then some citizens even with a gun.

You are looking at an almost entirely disarmed public vs. a military......instead, think of a mostly armed population vs. the military.....in the first place, it would be hard to intimidate political opposition to gain power if you can't easily beat up, harrass or murder them.....that is how the national socialists gained power in Germany, anyone speaking out against them ended up beaten, murdered or had their businesses destroyed as the police failed to stop it or were actively part of it....

Anti gunners rarely look at that part of the equation....not allowing one group to grab power because they face armed resistance at all levels.......

That is why the democrat party here tried to disarm freed blacks after the Civil War......

 

[Snouter]

IMO it is not about a revolution against a "government." We just had that by voting for The Donald and having The Donald as our new President. It is primarily for defense against savages that the "government" imported the past few decades, and the savages on welfare they do not incarcerate enough though they have served notice they are unfit to live in a free society.

 

[2aguy]

Ok but why do you want a gun? I like sports shooting and maybe because of attraction value like you own a nice watch etc. But I dont need a gun for my safety and thats good. Do you need a gun for your safety? And doesnt more guns create a hostile environment like one guy in the room is aggressive and that turns out to make others aggressive too, a action and reaction if now everyone has a gun doesnt it lead to more killings?

That passive philosophy has been drilled into the minds of contemporary Germans. The result is what we saw on New Years Eve, 2015, in Cologne.

An even sadder example is what has happened to Sweden.

And Paris......