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Winterwind said:
But there are real lives at stake.
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This has never changed. That is why we CREATED the firearm, to protect "real lives" if you can imagine that......
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Winterwind said:
The governments first priority should be first and foremost to serve the people.
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Not in a CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED, system, such as ours. Our government can only serve the people to the extent their AUSPICE OF AUTHORITY ALLOWS, and owning arms is an INDIVIDUAL right.
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Winterwind said:
When the people are being killed by guns, it is the responsibility of the government to act to end this somehow.
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You are far over-simplifying the situation.
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Winterwind said:
Protecting rights is only a means to serving the people. But you have to weight the costs of deaths with the cost of having to trust government, which doesn't come easily, especially not to a country that rose to existence in the fight against a overly powerful government.
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Our right to own arms is the ultimate protector of this nation, from both foreign invasion as well as national tyranny, and it is the staple right that enforces every other right from the freedom of speech to the freedom to gather. Do you remember the folks in your nation being run over by the tank in Tianamen square? This wouldn't happen in the US without SEVERE repercussions, due to an armed populace.
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Winterwind said:
I think you have a point with the tyrannical government argument, and yet the political culture of America is one of rights and freedoms, much more so then most modern democracies where the political culture is of equality. Neither is better then the other, but in a climate of such a fierce defense of freedoms, don't you trust the people to nip tyranny in the bud?
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They can only do that if they have equal access to force, which takes the form of weapons, which leads right to the most efficient and effective means of self-defense, both nationally and individually, the firearms.
Besides, look around you..... does ANY government look worthy of being called "respectable"? No, I don't think people, especially uninformed people can nip tyranny in the bud.
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Winter wind said:
It's a subjective, but it asks a question more then gives an answer
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I respect subjective points if they take into account objective reality.
This is Washingtons speech addressing the reality of government, which he calls FIRE, as it WILL CONSUME IF NOT KEPT IN CHECK, whether in 1779 or 2079.
The Avalon Project : Washington's Farewell Address 1796
Here are some quotes by the forefathers and creators of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, on the purpose of arming every person, or allowing every person in the nation the right to own arms.
Founders' Quotes "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government"
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334
"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good"
-- George Washington
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."
-- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
The reason history repeats itself, is people are foolish enough to think they have advanced beyond such threats, and instead replace wariness with apathy.