Yet another terrible mass-shooting, yet another golden opportunity to cram gun control down people's throats. Or, at least, that's how the Democratic Party usually treats these tragedies. Individual Democrats will have different opinions but, the Party is just determined to restrict/remove my 2nd Amendment rights.
As usual, they are screaming at the top of their lungs that 'You don't need an assault rifle!', usually referring to an AR-15.
First of all, the AR-15 is not an assault rifle. It merely looks like the military's M-16 series rifles. Functionally, it's equivalent to an ordinary hunting rifle chambered for .223 Remington. That rifle is FAR removed from being an assault rifle of any kind. An assault rifle would be full automatic. The AR-15 does not have that capability. Neither do the M-16's being used by today's military. All they have is a burst fire mode that fires 3 rounds with each trigger pull. The original M-16A1 model used in Vietnam had full automatic capability but, it was impossible to control. That's why the Army went to burst-fire for the A2, A4 and M-4 Carbine models in use today.
Second, there are already a LOT of Federal laws on the books that would make it near impossible for a civilian to get a full automatic weapon so, why are the Democrats bitching so much? They already have what they want on that part of the gun rights debate.
All that being said, I still think they are full of shit and not living in the real world.
Getting an 'actual' assault rifle isn't possible for most people. The permits would be too expensive. However, an AR-15 (or something similar) could come in handy. I will now explain why a person might need one...
1.) Rifles do a better job of defending a home than pistols, especially in bad neighborhoods.
If I lived in the Ghetto, you better believe I'd get the best damned firepower my money could buy. An AR-15 might be one of the weapons I'd choose. Why? Because it is almost guaranteed to put a home invader or gang-banger down on the ground and make sure he stays there. Pistols may not do that, even if it's a large caliber like .45 ACP.
Even if you don't live in the Ghetto, the cops will still be minutes away when seconds count. The more powerful the weapons you have at your disposal, the better chance that you have. And for those who say that an AR-15 would be difficult to handle in any kind of close-quarters environments like a hallway... Well, you're right. That's why you can get AR-15's with shorter barrels and stocks that resemble the M-4 Carbine. That was specifically made for just that kind of close-quarters battle scenario. So, using that fallacious argument against my owning an 'assault rifle' is also quite invalid.
2.) You never know when your neighborhood can turn into a war zone...
No, that's not hyperbole. I'm not talking about bad inner-city neighborhoods with lots of gang wars and drug deals going sour. I'm talking about ANY neighborhood.
Here in New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina, virtually ALL forms of Law and Order simply broke down. At least a third of the NOPD abandoned their posts and the ones remaining were hapless and helpless. They could not stop the riots, looting and general mayhem that had befallen the city. Ordinary citizens were on their own until help arrived from the State Police and National Guard. Due to the utter incompetence of the governor at that time (who also happened to be a Democrat), the National Guard and State Troopers were delayed for several days.
I evacuated the area like 93% of South Louisiana's population did. The ones who stayed behind were embroiled in one of the most horrifying examples of a Hobbesian Nightmare that America has ever seen. And since most people are pretty civil, they had no idea how to protect themselves from the thugs who couldn't (and didn't want to) leave. We all remember the scenes of horror on the news at that time. We all have heard a million stories, most of them exaggerated. I had even heard that the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office shot 8 looters dead in my neighborhood. I don't know if it's true or not. Either way, it would be nice to have a means to protect myself.
If I had stayed and had to deal with that mess, I would want the most powerful and intimidating weapon I could get. An AR-15 would have done the job quite well. Since most people are not as well-versed in firearms as me, they wouldn't know that it was just a glorified pop gun... That a trained marksman can use to hit targets from several hundred meters away...
3.) You never know when you may need to help defend the country.
For this, we will need to take a look at the exact text of the Second Amendment...
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.
So, why would the Founders want people to keep rifles and form militias? Simple. America did not have the world's most powerful military when we first started out as a country. We wouldn't have the finest military money could buy until the middle of World War II at the earliest. So, the Founders and Framers made gun ownership a Constitutionally protected right so that people can always defend themselves from a foreign aggressor. Hell, we usually wouldn't even have a military until a war was declared. The militia was the only way to defend the republic in peacetime. And when war was declared, those militias would be organized into formal military units, just like how National Guard units often go overseas to fight in our foreign wars today.
Yes, this Amendment is still quite necessary and we do still need a militia. It is at least theoretically possible, however unlikely, that our military could be defeated. Or, they can be simply avoided and our enemy can attack the civilian population. That's what Islamic Terrorists do. They do it because they think civilians are 'soft' targets. With so much Anti-Gun nonsense taking root in the media and popular culture, it's no surprise that they would get this idea. Why do you think they picked places like Southern California and a gay nightclub in Orlando for these recent attacks? They were counting on the fact that the people in those places were very left-wing and would not have a gun. Thankfully, the gay community has seen the proverbial light on this issue and are now buying guns in record numbers. Too bad it took such an awful event like the mass-shooting in Orlando to get the point across to them.
The Hajji bastards also once tried a few attacks in Texas at some public event that featured unflattering cartoons of the FALSE Prophet Mohammed. Since Texas actually understands and embraces the 2nd Amendment with gusto, that attack did not go as planned. It's unlikely that any of those goat-fuckers are likely to try something there again.
And yes, I know it was cops who shot the two desert bandit pieces of shit in Texas. And that's the whole point. The people in that event were lucky enough to have cops around. You and me may not be so lucky. So, there should be no reason why we can't keep and bear arms to protect ourselves. Even in the most authoritarian nightmare of a country, the cops can't be everywhere at once.
And, finally, the reason that will upset Democrats the most...
4.) You never know when you may need to overthrow the government...
No, I'm not a paranoid conspiracy freak or part of any right-wing organizations. I'm looking at this from the Founder's point of view. When the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written and ratified, the War for Independence was still fresh in everyone's mind. Those two most holy of documents were ratified in 1787 and 1791 respectively and the War ended in 1783. Everyone alive still remembered how tyrannical the British Crown had become and they wanted to make damned sure nothing like that could ever happen again. Having an armed populace makes it VERY difficult for a government to become tyrannical.
And no, the military could not and would not crush the civilian populace like a bug. I can say that with confidence as a veteran of that military. First of all, the military has about 3 or 4 million members at most, many of which would not do well on a battlefield. Not everyone is cut out for Infantry. They would be MASSIVELY out-numbered by the civilian populace, which numbers at least 300 Million. That's 100 to 1 odds. Even some jackass wearing butter bars that just graduated OCS or ROTC can tell you that is a no-win scenario.
Plus, there's also the fact that those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are also Americans themselves. Do you honestly think that any of them would take an obviously illegal order from some rogue general or politician that would have them point rifles at American civilians?
I can promise you they won't. ALL of us who wore the uniform would know that's not legal because it would violate Posse Comitatus, a federal law specifically restricting the military from carrying out any kind of law enforcement roles on American soil. Trying to misuse the National Guard wouldn't help, either. Just like the active duty forces and reserves, they would also refuse to accept what they would consider an illegal order.
Furthermore, the chances are good that the military would then turn on the politician giving that illegal order. Even if they didn't specifically decide to shoot that POTUS that wanted to become Dictator, they also wouldn't stand in the way of the angry mob coming for him. Some of my co-workers and I actually discussed this issue while I was still in uniform. We all agreed, Democrats included, that we would rather turn our rifles on the politicians than on our fellow Americans. Even the soldiers with the worst character flaws still held this view. So, it's quite unlikely that any attempt on the part of a wannabe Dictator is going to get anywhere. That's just a good way of having hundreds of millions of rifles pointed at you with lots of itchy fingers on the trigger.
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I don't expect most Democrats to agree with this post or understand my point of view. They view their political party and government control of their lives as a form of religion. They are also *quite* devout. It's literally like the Inner Party out of George Orwell's 1984, complete with their own version of Newspeak called 'Political Correctness.'
Thankfully, most Americans are not that insane. And those people are the ones I hope that I can reach with this post and the whole blog in general. Remember, a politician that wants to take your gun is either a fool or a wannabe tyrant. Don't believe a damned thing they say. No politician, especially the one you voted for in the last election, ever really has your best interest at heart. They are only worried about building and maintaining their own power. And since power attracts those who are easily corruptible, it makes perfect sense to have some means of defending yourself against them.
Sincerely,
Lord Publius
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