Why we need organizations like the NRA.
I understand that many people do not like guns. I also understand many of the reasons people have for not liking guns: guns have been used to kill people, firearm accidents take many lives every year, and that they are dangerous weapons in the hands of both skilled and unskilled users. However, there is one reason, one argument, against the Right to bear arms which I do not understand.
I have heard many times, and read many articles wherein, people claim that our Second Amendment Right is no longer necessary. These people seem to believe that America has no use of civilian militias, that the very thought of combating the United States government is, in and of itself, an act of treason. I would like to set the record straight.
I firmly believe that an unarmed society is at the mercy of its government. History has proven, time and again, that every single time the people place unquestioning faith in its leaders they get screwed. In 1770, William Pitt stated, “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.” A more well-known variant of this sentiment is attributed to Lord Acton who said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
The point being, even though the United States has a very well thought-out system of government, it is not now, nor will it ever be, beyond corruption. We bestow power upon our leaders, and the fact that those leaders are elected does not diminish their ability to impact, and control, our lives. The Patriot Act of 2001, for example, increased the federal government’s ability to invade a citizen’s life based upon the assumption of wrong-doing. The government needs only claim one is a suspect to be able to intercept phone calls, emails, medical records, and financial data.
Our ability to vote, our voice, was not enough to stop the Patriot Act from being implemented. It should make you question just how much power we’ve given our government, and whether or not our government understands that it still works for us and not the other way around. I believe two recent stories concerning our judicial system should also be of note: the recent story of Troy Davis from Georgia proves that we’ve given our judicial system the power to condemn a man to death based solely on hearsay (I base that opinion on every single news story I’ve read wherein they all agree that no physical evidence, nor DNA evidence, was ever produced linking Troy Davis to the murder), while the story of David Crowe of the same state was granted a Stay of Execution after having fully admitted his guilt.
How much more power do we need to give up to our government before people start to realize we need to be able to defend ourselves? It isn’t just about protecting ourselves, and our families, from criminals. It’s not about owning a gun “just because you can”. It’s not even about owning a gun because you like to hunt. It’s about making damn sure that the government never forgets we have the Right, and the ability, to say No More.
No more stripping away our Constitutional Rights, no more playing God with our lives by implementing, and enforcing, a hypocritical set of Laws, and no more invading our private lives because they can’t properly ensure our defense without treating us all like criminals or viewing us all as potential terrorists.
We are American citizens, and our government works for us. And should the day come when we, as a society, decide that the government has ceased working for us, and started working against us, we have the Right, and we require the ability, to bear arms in our own defense. Never forget, and never allow yourself to become convinced, that the government is somehow incapable of doing that very thing.
You should question when the government tells you not to bear arms, yet, itself, has access to arms, and tells you to be against forming a peaceful militia, while it commands its own army. History has proven that, given the opportunity, it can, and will, use both against us.
