Weapons

Today on Facebook, I read a conversation about government use and abuse of power. In case you don’t remember, I fully support the right of the government to investigate protestors, activists, etc. You don’t know who the bad guys are if you ignore everyone who claims to be peaceful. I also support the right of the government to own weapons, including weapons intended to be used against Americans in the event that becomes necessary. As a government – or as any group with any sort of power – you need to be prepared for any eventuality, including that people within your own country, even your own citizens, might be allied with powerful external forces in a plot to overthrow the rightfully elected US government. (Just as most businesses have security plans that include plans for using force against their own employees in the event one of them goes completely nutso.)

Obviously, there’s a thin line there, and while government can’t be too explicit with their plans (lest they be rendered useless), there do need to be oversight organizations, and I hope to God those organizations are doing their jobs.

That said, it is also part of our Constitution that we have the right to have our own weapons. The Constitution doesn’t really limit that. It’s so we can form a militia. Remember the Revolutionary war? There was the Regulars – the actual army – and there was the Militia – the every day farmers who took up arms and fought for the cause. The Militia was NOT the army. What was the militia used for? To fight against the (technically rightful) government to obtain freedom. The militia needed to have weapons every bit as sophisticated as the army they were fighting in order to have a chance.

Nothing has changed.

An unarmed citizenry is a citizenry ripe for being overpowered by an out of control, out of bounds government.

What struck me most about the conversation I was reading was the line of thought that some folks were afraid of the weapons the government might have and might be able to use against us… but these same folks support limitations on gun rights. I don’t understand that. You honestly cannot defeat large weapons with peaceful protests.

(Then again, maybe I’m ok with this line of thinking. See, in the event the government turns on its people, they’ll probably go after the easy targets first, in an attempt to scare the rest of us. So the Afraid of the Government But Not Willing To Let People Have Guns crowd will be the first to go… giving the rest of us some advance warning. 😉  )