alamo (Photo credit: j3net)
Since the Aurora shooting (I’m refusing to refer to it by the press moniker of ‘Midnight Shootings) the nation has been up in arms (pun intended) about the issue of gun control and certain rabid liberals who just want to take away every American‘s firearms.
It is the ‘woolly headed’ thinking of these liberal ‘peace-niks’ that drives me to distraction. These are the same sort of people who instilled a deep-seated phobia about firearms and their place in modern society in the United Kingdom. And the argument that the constitution’s assertion that American’s have the right to own and use firearms for their own “self defence” is not really a right is ridiculous.
The Supreme Court upheld the notion that the constitution did guarantee American’s the right to own and use firearms in 2008. With the government’s overt and not so overt (Can you say Fast & Furious, kids? I knew you could) opposition to individuals having access to guns and their determination to control every honest citizens ability to use guns, I think we are in for yet another fight.
The government need to read more history. American history. I won’t go as far back as the War of Independence that we would not have had a chance in if it weren’t for private citizens and their guns.
No, in terms of history I will just say three words. Remember the Alamo.
Every American remembers the legend and the myth of the Alamo’s desperate last stand against the military might of the Mexican government. But has everyone forgotten what helped start Texas (that was part of Mexico) in their move to rebel against the government?
Gun control.
The Mexican government decided to put into practise a gun control law that prohibited citizens owning their own firearms. Admittedly this was in a time when the gun was necessary to these ‘homesteaders’ for personal protection in a time when the Apache and other sundry tribes were still preying on these intruding white people.
The attempted confiscation of arms and the punitive measures taken against the ‘law breakers’ started what would soon escalate into a full scale military event that would see Mexico lose a part of their own country. And it all started with a sense of moral outrage felt by the Americans who were told to give up their guns
That that sense of moral outrage and entitlement has not gone away. The country itself may be more ‘civilised’ and we might have more law and order with a modern police force to help keep things ‘safe.’ But the police themselves admit that they are not in a position to provide protection for the average citizen.
The police are, by the very nature of their job, an ‘after-the-fact’ organisation. They arrive at the crime scene after the fact. Just the phrase ‘crime scene’ proves that the actual crime has already occurred. The police have stated that a well armed, well trained citizen can provide better protection for themselves than they, the police, can.
In case you missed it, the most important part of the above paragraph was the “well armed, well trained” bit. Instead of wasting everyone’s time trying to set up a legislation that, like the United Kingdom, will only allow the police and criminals to be armed, they should instead set up a program that requires gun owners be educated.
Proper lessons for new gun owners or for existing owners a requirement to prove they know how, why and when to properly use a gun. Whether it’s for hunting or self defense, a little education could go a long way. It’s been proven time and again that the current system is not capable of stopping the world’s nutters buying guns and using them on innocent people.
I’m not advocating turning American streets into a variation of the O.K. Corral with shoot-outs at noon, but I am saying we need to be very careful in disarming honest citizens. Because I can tell you, the next step will be losing your right to defend yourself or your family at all.
I’ve lived in the United Kingdom off and on from 1982 to 1990 and after that I’ve lived here full time (I’m a dual citizen) and I’ve seen first hand what living in a country that practises the total disarming of it’s law abiding citizenry is like..
In the United Kingdom you cannot even own a knife if the blade it too long. You are also very limited in defending yourself. Woe betide the person who uses too much violence to save themselves or their family from personal injury or death. I will just point out the the ‘anti-gun, anti-violence’ attitude and legislation forbids the use of tasers, spray cannisters (tear gas, pepper spray) and causing any sort of injury to the criminal who is attempting to murder, rob, rape or assault you.
Protecting yourself too vigorously will land you in court. You can, then depending of the circumstances, find yourself a guest at Her Majesty’s convenience. At the very least you could be fined a substantial amount of money for daring to protect your family and their (or your) safety.
Self defence is frowned on in this country. Violence, whether it is of a protective nature or not, is bad. And that will be the next step. Because the real disturbing truth is this. Gun control is just the first step in the government controlling you and trying to turn you into a cog in their mechanism.
Where they call allthe shots and you have no right to personally insure you are safe in your own city, town, or home.
Re-enactment of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Tombstone, Arizona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Related articles
- Movie massacre proves need for armed citizens, says gun law expert (examiner.com)
- Guns used in Colorado theatre shooting legal in Canada (cbc.ca)
- U.S. gun sales up after theatre shooting (lfpress.com)
- Gun measures that ‘shouldn’t be controversial’ (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
- The Fear of Guns Sells Guns (theatlantic.com)
- America’s New Gun Control Consensus (frontpagemag.com)
