imported post
The Donkey wrote:
Right: why shouldn'tyou be allowedbuy afully loaded, lightlyused, M109A6 Paladin for cash without a background check . . . .
True, you might not WANT to take part in the celebration by the Washington monument by firing at it from hereoutside of the DC beltway: but then again shouldn'tyou have the RIGHT to have theCAPABILITY if the celebration OFFENDS?
'Courseyou would need a few rocket assisted projectiles too. Ya think Craigslistshould have em?
You must remember that the founding fathers wrote and adoptedthe Constitution andBill of Rightsafter a Declaration of Independance and a successful armed revolution against the tyrannical government of England. Again, they wrote this after they rebelled against a King who had an Army.
The colonists who became revolutionaries could not have succeeded in securing their own free state if they were restricted to non-military weapons or "civilian" weapons only. The revolutionary war had cannons on both sides of the lines as well as muskets, pistols, and sabres. These were all considered "arms" and no distinction was made between the "arms" in the Bill of Rights.
Thereforeeveryone should have the right to keep and bear arms capable of overthrowing a tyranny. Should the state become a tyranny that is no longer free, the people have the right (and duty) to bear arms to secure their freedom.To prevent the state from becoming a tyranny in the first place, the people's right to keep and bear arms should never be infringed.
In today's world, the federal government is in complete control. Any attempt by any one of the states to secede would be crushed financially, politically, or perhaps even militarily. No state government will consider seceding from the Union. Furthermore, even if every single "civilian" in the country owned an AR-15 or M1A and took up arms against our government, our government could bring the full might of the standing army (which is unconstitutional, might I add...) and crush the rebellion. No successful revolution could ever take place without a huge number of US Military officers and enlisted defecting on a massive scale. It would require tanks, bombers, fighters, huge numbers of troops, ships, etc.
Thus, should this country's government ever become a tyranny,itwould be nearly impossible to establish a new democracy as our founding fathers did. Therefore, the purpose of the Bill of Rights (most importantly the 2nd and 10th amendment) has been trampled and infringed uponto the point of being impotent. The lines were drawn when the south attempted to secede from the Union and our illustrious 16th president sent in Union troops to occupy a few rebellious states and then established a naval blockade. The lines were drawn and the south was crushed. The last attempted revolution was crushed by the federal government after ~4 years of the bloodiest fighting in US history. An attempt at a revolution now (even on a massive scale) would simply take a fraction of the time and would be more deadly.
In other words, yes, the individual person should have access, training and the right to use the arms necessary to preserve freedom. The 2nd amendment isn't just about mustkets and pistols. The spirit of the Bill of Rights is dead.
