WhistlingJack
Regular Member
“The Founding Fathers could have never imagined something like an AK-47”
I hear this argument all the time when trying to discuss the rights outlined by the Second Amendment. Quite frankly, this argument is so stupid, it offends me that someone thinks I am such a simpleton that I would accept this statement.
There are two points on this matter.
The Founding Fathers and those of their era utilized muzzle-loading blackpowder firearms in hostile confrontations with the Native Americans. The Native Americans used bow and arrows, they used stone and bone arrowheads, they used other weapons made of stone and wood, until Europeans taught them how to work metal. The Founders were well aware of the fact that technology, especially weapons technology advanced over time. This is to say nothing of the fact that the quest to design a firearm capable of firing multiple rounds and doing so quickly; is in fact as old as the firearm itself….and firearms were around a long time before the American Revolution.
The other reason this statement infuriates me is the astonishing lack of vision the one who speaks it conveys, and then assumes I am similarly limited. Someone who truly believes the above statement needs to put down the iPod, get off Facebook, turn off the TV, and crack open a book; and, perhaps, expand their own imagination.
If Gene Rodenberry can imagine a handgun that disintegrates a person, or even many metric tons of solid rock on impact….if George Lucas can envision a space station that destroys planets with so much energy it would take our sun 6,000 years to produce the necessary power….you mean to tell me that the Founding Fathers, some of the wisest men who ever lived could not envision that one day high-capacity and automatic weapons would one day exist? That a group of men which included inventors, scientists, generals, and innovators could not forsee this?
I know I'm just preaching to the choir here, but that statement said so many times recently by those trying to seize on tragedy for personal gain just infuriates me.
I hear this argument all the time when trying to discuss the rights outlined by the Second Amendment. Quite frankly, this argument is so stupid, it offends me that someone thinks I am such a simpleton that I would accept this statement.
There are two points on this matter.
The Founding Fathers and those of their era utilized muzzle-loading blackpowder firearms in hostile confrontations with the Native Americans. The Native Americans used bow and arrows, they used stone and bone arrowheads, they used other weapons made of stone and wood, until Europeans taught them how to work metal. The Founders were well aware of the fact that technology, especially weapons technology advanced over time. This is to say nothing of the fact that the quest to design a firearm capable of firing multiple rounds and doing so quickly; is in fact as old as the firearm itself….and firearms were around a long time before the American Revolution.
The other reason this statement infuriates me is the astonishing lack of vision the one who speaks it conveys, and then assumes I am similarly limited. Someone who truly believes the above statement needs to put down the iPod, get off Facebook, turn off the TV, and crack open a book; and, perhaps, expand their own imagination.
If Gene Rodenberry can imagine a handgun that disintegrates a person, or even many metric tons of solid rock on impact….if George Lucas can envision a space station that destroys planets with so much energy it would take our sun 6,000 years to produce the necessary power….you mean to tell me that the Founding Fathers, some of the wisest men who ever lived could not envision that one day high-capacity and automatic weapons would one day exist? That a group of men which included inventors, scientists, generals, and innovators could not forsee this?
I know I'm just preaching to the choir here, but that statement said so many times recently by those trying to seize on tragedy for personal gain just infuriates me.
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