An armed society is a polite society

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

These words are perhaps some of the most important words ever written. From its inception in 1791 all the way up to now and in the future, the Second Amendment has been under fire (no pun intended) from anti gun groups and the left. These groups have been trying to restrict our rights to keep and bear arms for years. This article will lay out why gun control is a very bad idea, must be stopped at all costs, and is responsible for millions of deaths around the world and here at home.

The media will have you believe that what happened last week in Colorado is becoming common place all over America. This can not be farther from the truth. Most of the media, and their cohorts on the left believe that the only way to stop these killings is by keeping guns out of the hands of the American people. That is a terrible idea. There is no doubt that what unfolded last week in Colorado was a horrific tragedy and my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. Their lives will forever be changed because of one horrible act by a very deranged and maniacal killer.

With that being said, the facts show that the events that took place in Colorado are not the norm. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s statistics on murder, less then one percent of all homicides involve 5 or more victims. This is a rate that has remained unchanged for decades and shows that what happened in Colorado is indeed a rare occurrence.

The media’s “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality and over the top coverage of stories like the Colorado tragedy are the reason people believe that this type of event happens more frequently. The media these days are more concerned with how high their ratings are, rather than how they report the story. Unfortunately, sensationalism sells and the entertainment factor is usually given more importance over the facts. The media would like you to believe that any person who carries a gun is somehow a shady character who wants to shoot innocent people or perpetrate a crime. The fact of the matter is you are more likely to die in a traffic accident to and from the movie theatre than you are by being shot to death inside it.

The first major attempt the anti gun zealots on the left have made to eliminate our Second Amendment rights was back in 1976. In that year the District of Columbia passed a law known as the Firearms Control Regulation Act. This draconian piece of legislation completely banned the ownership of handguns in the Washington, DC area. This was a monumental first step by the left to rid Americans of their right to bare arms. The anti gun lobby in America then tried to pass similar legislation in other states that mirrored the District of Columbia’s law. However, in 2008 the Supreme Court ruled in Heller vs. Washington, DC that the ban was unconstitutional. As a result of the Heller decision most states that passed laws that banned handguns have since repealed them.

According to Justfacts.com, which is an independent fact finding group, the DC handgun ban did very little to curb gun violence. During the years the ban was put in place, which was 1976 to 2008, the Washington DC murder rate was 73% higher than it was before the law was enacted.

In essence what had happened was the criminals now knew that their potential victims were unarmed; and thus became more violent and less cautious when committing crimes. The unintended consequences actually made matters worse for the city, not better. As a result of the ban, the city saw a sharp rise in its murder rate. By disarming its citizens, the District of Columbia unintentionally created more victims of crime, and easier prey for criminals.

Additionally, in 1982 the City of Chicago also instituted a ban on handguns. The Chicago law stated that all civilians were prohibited from possessing handguns within the city’s limits. As expected, the murder rate increased by 40% after the law was put in place.

Another aspect of gun control that liberals and anti gun lobbyists have been trying to curb is concealed carry or right to carry permits. Most liberals feel the only people that should be able to carry guns are military members, police officers, and security personnel. They can’t seem to understand the fact that if more law abiding citizens were carrying guns, there would be less homicides taking place.

In 1987 the state of Florida allowed its citizens to carry a concealed weapon. The Florida law required that you must be 21 years of age, have a clean criminal record, and take and pass a safety and training course. Since the enactment of the law the murder rate in Florida has dropped by 36%.

Similarly, the state of Texas allowed their citizens to carry concealed weapons in 1996. The Texas law had almost identical requirements and also produced similar results. The murder rate in Texas dropped 30% largely due to the fact that more Texans were packing heat. Soon after the success of the Florida and Texas laws; 40 other states adopted similar legislation and most if not all saw a tremendous drop in their murder rates.

Gun control as I mentioned previously has lead to millions of deaths throughout history. It is a sad fact that when governments remove their citizen’s ability to protect themselves it usually ends in mass killings and executions. There have been numerous examples throughout history of such atrocities being perpetrated against citizens who were unable to defend themselves because of gun control policies.

In 1942 Adolph Hitler said this, “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories, and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country.”

Adolph Hitler who was the head of the Nazi Party in Germany established the Nazi Weapons Act of 1938. This act gave the Nazi Party unrestricted and complete control over which, if any citizens were allowed to possess firearms. From 1938 until 1945 13 million citizens, including 6 million Jews who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated as a direct result of the Nazi Party’s gun control policies.

In 1929 Joseph Stalin famously quipped, “If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.” From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves because of restrictive gun control policies were rounded up by Stalin and exterminated.

And Mao Zedong in 1938 said this, “All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The Communist Party must command all the guns, that way no guns can ever be used to command the Communist Party.” Mao was definitely one of the most brutal dictators the world has ever seen. It is estimated that between 1935 and 1987 that he butchered, pillaged, and murdered between 49 and 78 million people. All these people perished as a direct result from Mao’s restrictive gun control policies.

The Founding Fathers all understood the grave danger that gun control laws can have on a free nation. They understood that a nation that did not have the ability to protect itself from tyranny would not survive as a nation. Perhaps the greatest right that we have as Americans is the right to protect ourselves. This right must be protected at all costs and never be relinquished. If more citizens were armed there would be less, not more violent crime.

Here are a few quotes from some of our Founding Fathers and Noble Statesman who understood the importance of an armed society.

“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

“The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force far superior to any band of regular troops.” —Noah Webster

And Richard Henry Lee, one of the initiators of the Declaration of Independence, and a member of the first Senate said this, “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young how to use them.”

Gun control, in any form is un-American. It goes against the very nature of the freedoms this country was found upon. Efforts to curb the Second Amendment are an effort to curb every American citizen’s right to self defense. Liberals are either too naive, or haven’t bothered to read their history when it comes to gun control. It is for this reason, and many others that they are never fit to govern. If they can’t understand that gun control leads to tyranny, then they can’t be trusted to protect us.

It is often said that guns kill people. This is a false statement. People kill people. This is a fact that many on the left like to conveniently forget. Instead of trying to limit law abiding citizens from possessing firearms, we should instead try to find out why people are killing each other. I’m not a psychologist, and I don’t play one on television, however common sense says that what we see and hear can sometimes influence our behavior.

Television, video games, and violent movies have all lead to the desensitization of violence in society. The constant flow of blood, guts, and gore has become a staple of the American diet. We live in a violent world and although peace and happiness is what we all covet we must also be realistic. I believe it is better to possess a gun and not need it; then to need a gun and not have it. I tend to agree with the late American science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein.

An armed society is a polite society.

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