300 million guns. How can this be civilised?

Between 1776 and 1783 an scrappy army of 17,000 fought the British (or Good King George as he is commonly called). The army didn’t own any guns, so individuals had to bring their own muskets (muskets, mind you, not automatics) to war. When the war was over the last thing the government wanted was a standing army. It was therefore disbanded and the soldiers went home with their own guns.

When the 2nd Amendment was passed the government only had a citizen army to call upon in times of crisis. Hence the words, “a well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state”. This preamble has been interpreted as allowing citizens to rebel against a government they disapprove of. What government in history would deliberately set up a system where it could be casually overthrown by a bunch of disaffected yokels? Give me a break!

No, the 2nd Amendment has been misinterpreted, deliberately or not, for decades. There is an estimated 300 million firearms out there, but even with this obscene number, do the gun enthusiasts really expect to overthrow a government armed with nuclear missiles, tanks and planes? Meanwhile we can expect a steady 25,000 or so people to die by gunfire every year as far as we can see ahead. Enough! (Paraphrasing an article by David Post in The Georgetowner)

One Comment

  1. 1. Where does the Constitution mention automatic weapons, magazines holding 30 rounds and all the paraphernalia of the gun crowd? 2. No one is trying to prevent genuine hunters hunting. By the same token, no sportsman, true sportsman, needs a military-style gun to kill a rabbit. 3. The guns are really for “self-defense” (which turns cities into potential firing ranges and summons up that delightful term used by the insensitive,”collateral damage”, a.k.a the accidental killing of quite innocent people).
    These guunies have watched too many cowboy movies. I defy any of them, even armed to the teeth, to calmly fire back at an unexpected attacker and coolly take him out. Most soldiers cannot do that. Can a shopper or a housewife do it. All childish nonsense.

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