Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: The need for the 2nd amendment

Author:Eric Kidd
Posted:5/6/1999; 10:10:06 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 5/4/99
Msg #:5741 (In response to 5731)
Prev/Next:5740 / 5742

If the government is oppressing the people, one way or the other, vote them out of office!

That must not be very effective oppression, if we still get to vote. ;-)

I can't believe that the americans fear a coup de etat (sp?) and the abolishment of democracy in the USA within the nect couple of decades (if not centuries) so why the need for weapons?

I'll try to give you the traditional American perspective. I grew up in a small Maine town which has been around longer than the United States itself. Many of the local families were granted their land by the King of England.

When colonial rule grew oppressive, people from my town fought and died so that their children might be free. They took their flint-lock muskets and their horses, joined the revolutionary army and eventually won their freedom.

Europe thought we were crazy (except for the French). Everybody knew that democracies and republics didn't work. With no strong central authority, independent of the masses, how could a government survive? Well, we won that argument, too. Half the countries on Earth are democracies, and most of the other half pretend to be.

Two hundred years later, the people in my town still own their guns. In fact, there's about one gun, on average, for every adult male. Most of these guns are rifles and shotguns (used for hunting), though a small number are handguns. Nobody ever gets shot. We have very little serious crime. The last time they needed their guns was 1860, in the Civil War. I don't know why anybody else fought in the war, but most of the Mainers went to "free the slaves." Today, human slavery is not legal in the United States.

Switzerland is a neutral country. Like the United States, it's a democracy. Nobody would ever invade Switzerland, and the Swiss government is probably less likely to turn oppressive than the American government. So Switzerland should be a pacifist country, right?

Every Swiss citizen is required to serve in the military. The government issues guns to many Swiss citizens, and teaches them how to kill people. I've lived in Switzerland; they're serious about this. Some of those guns are a lot bigger than the ones in my home town. Again, virtually nobody gets shot in Switzerland. Even Hitler left the Swiss alone--between their banks and their guns and their mountains, they just weren't worth invading.

The drafters of our constitution believed that every adult male should own a weapon and know how to use it properly. That's why we have the second amendment.

Does this make any sense whatsoever? ;-)

Cheers, Eric

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