Hold the Line



I sent the following letter to my Congressmen:
While recent mass shootings receive tremendous media attention, they are statistically a small fraction of gun violence, which is itself a fraction of criminal violence. It would be irrational to react to the spectacle instead of moving in a reasoned way toward the whole spectrum of criminal violence.

The fact is that the 2nd Amendment protects a free state in a crucial manner. International comparisons cherry pick mono-ethnic states with strong central cultures like Iceland or Japan, where violence is relatively uncommon with or without guns. The proper comparisons are to diverse American nations with a similarly troubled history to our own. Mexico has strict gun control, but is overrun by cartel violence. Brazil has until recently strictly forbid private ownership of firearms, but has recently begun re-introducing private arms as a way of addressing similar criminal violence. These states have found that even a large police force can be dominated by criminal organizations; resisting them requires a distributed capacity for defense of liberty among the citizenry as a whole.

Similarly, a free citizenry can protect itself against tyrannical government if it is properly armed. The people of the Philippines endure extrajudicial killings; the Uighur population in China is undergoing ethnic cleansing and "re-education" because they cannot resist. The people of Hong Kong, though engaged in a noble and enviable defense of their liberty, are likely soon to feel the weight of the People's "Liberation" Army. If they had rifles, they would have less to fear.

The Founders were correct. The militia, meaning the ordinary citizenry's capacity to defend its liberty, is the first and best defense of a free state. I mean to pass every single liberty to my children that was passed to me by our fathers. Hold the line.
After I wrote that, I found out that the folks in Hong Kong agree.

4 comments:

RICH said...

YOU ARE SPOT ON RE; THE POLITICIANS POLITICIZING MASS SHOOTINGS FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL GAIN. I HAVE HAD FIREARMS IN MY POSESSION FOR ROUGHLY 60 YEARS AND NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAS EVER WALKED OFF AND KILLED ANYONE!
AMERICA HAS TO WAKE UP TO WHAT THE 'LEFT LEANING' POLITCIANS ARE PROMOTING BY WANTING TO DISARM THE HONEST, LAW ABIDING, CITIZENS....IF THAT EVER HAPPENS I FEAR IT WILL GET UGLY REAL FAST. IMO.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Ouch, stop with the all-caps for emphasis. Sounds like shouting. we can hear you.

@ Grim - there you go being reasonable again. You've been warned about this before.

Grim said...

I don't think Rich has commented here before, and I don't want his first experience to be unwelcoming. Welcome.

That said, I would also appreciate ordinary text rather than all-caps.

AVI -- thank you for your kind words, or warnings, as appropriate.

Ymar Sakar said...

The line will hold. I know of a few things. If it does not hold, people will have a choice still to stay with those who chose a lower more chaotic dimension or move on as a civ.

Those that want to fight will be given that choice too.

The only one shouting online to me is those broadcasting their emotions and surface intent. Very annoying for those that could pick it up but not realize the source.

America has a chance of getting out without a stack of corpses to the moon. But even if that happens, it cannot stop the divine fleet reinforcements. Best translation given limited lamguage culture matrix.