So Who Will You Shoot?
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. - US Constitution, Amendment II
These days when I hear certain groups of Americans talk about "freedom" and "liberty", they only seem to be talking about freedom to own guns Lots of guns. Unlimited access to guns. If I ask, "What does freedom mean to you?" the answer would be "More guns."
So what exactly does a gun do? What is its function? What is its purpose? If you strip away the flag waving, and the rhetoric, and the extreme nationalism, and just consider the essence of a gun as a tool, the answer would be simple. A gun's purpose is to kill.
Don't tell me that humbug about "Guns don't kill people." Yes, they do kill people (and animals). The purpose of a gun is to kill something or someone quickly and easily.
So if you believe that guns are freedom, are you willing to kill someone in the name of freedom?
The Second Amendment (shown at the top of the article) is our mostly widely contested and variably interpreted section of the US Constitution in the 21st Century. Many gun rights activists only care about the last fourteen words. Libertarians are a bit more nuanced and claim this is about having the ability to take over the government if it becomes tyrannical. They will quote the statements of the founding fathers - sometimes accurately, sometimes falsely, and sometimes out of context- to prove their point. Personally I don't feel your average libertarian really understands the concerns of of the founding fathers (who opposed the idea of a standing army, so of course they would support local militias). Most of them would tell me I'm wrong.
The right wing drumbeats are growing louder as more Americans are concerned about the misuse of guns in the wrong hands. A day doesn't go by when I don't hear how we must have guns to defend ourselves against tyranny. This is what I want to know: At what points will you take up your arms? What would it take? Most importantly, who are you willing to take your gun and kill in the name of freedom?
One argument often used by libertarians, and occasionally by self-proclaimed conservatives, is that one manifestation of our tyrannical government is our increasingly militarized police force and its suppression of protests by marginalized groups. This is an argument even I have to be in some agreement with. Police overreach is a growing problem in this country. This is one point liberals and libertarians can agree on. This tends to be a point where conservatives tend to disagree with libertarians because on average (but not always). Conservatives (and this is where they really earn my favorite nickname "regressives") tend to be law-and-order types who want a strong police force (especially if the police are pointing those military grade weapons at black people).
This is my question. If you believe that our police forces have become a tool of an oppressive regime, and you feel that guns are the only way to stop them, why haven't you done so? If you think your guns will prevent further deaths by police officers, why aren't you out there protecting the weakest and the oppressed from police violence? Why haven't you been out there at those riots with your guns shooting back the the police?
Let's go back a few years. For eight years my social media feeds were filled with conservative friends whining about how Obama was taking away their freedom. Obama took away their guns (oh wait, he didn't, but he was planning on it...), he signed the Affordable Care Act (because having people with lower incomes have access to insurance is such a freedom-killer). He overturned DOMA (because when other people have the same freedoms you do, it totally takes away all your freedom). He obviously turned this country into a communist totalitarian regime. Why didn't you take him out?
I know it's not easy to assassinate a president, but I'm sure it's not impossible. The Constitution gives you a right to a militia. Do you belong to one? Maybe you should join or start one? You should have done so when Obama was president. Train as a sniper. Better yet, you could have put a mole in the White House who would have given you a chance to just walk into the Oval Office and stuck a bullet in Obama's brain at point blank range. I know in the first couple of years you ran a risk of dealing with the line of succession. It wasn't just Obama. You would have needed a coordinated effort to take out Biden, Pelosi, and Clinton as well. So what happened? Why didn't you take your legal guns and work on this?
What happens if Trump is voted out of office? Even if he wins in 2020, a Democrat might make it into office in 2024. Will you be ready to defend your freedom and use your gun to take over the freedom-hating liberal communist government? I suggest you be prepared. Trump won't take away your guns, so get those militias in action.
The US military is vast. If you try to overthrow the government, it is the military's job to step in and protect it from your threat. You can't just take out the president. Your militia will have to be massive, well-trained, and stealthy. You will have to take out bases all over the entire country in a near-simultaneous attack and be quick about it. You have to take them by surprise and kill as many of them as you can before they can retaliate with their superior force (unless you own tanks, fighter jets, and drones of your own in addition to your guns).
Conservative worship the military. I hope killing all those soldiers and sailors doesn't cause too much cognitive dissonance. I hope the US veterans in the militia don't feel too bad about killing their brothers in arms. I assume you don't plan to do anything to help their spouses and children.
(I assume in the case of your assassination of Obama, you would have killed Michelle, Sasha, and Malia and done what the Bolsheviks did to the Czar and his family and thrown them in a pit, or maybe do what they did to Mussolini and his mistress and hang their bodies upside down from meat hooks in the city center.)
If guns equal freedom, then stop whining and tell me how you plan to use your gun to defend against the government. Guns do kill people. You aren't going to overthrow the government with hammers, knives, and jujitsu. You can't say you want to use your gun to overthrow a repressive government and say you don't want to kill anyone. If you think you need a gun to defend your freedom, then walk the walk. Tell me who you are willing to kill in the name of freedom.
Then again, Martin Luther King and Gandhi somehow managed to change the laws and even remove an imperial power without violence. Just saying.
These days when I hear certain groups of Americans talk about "freedom" and "liberty", they only seem to be talking about freedom to own guns Lots of guns. Unlimited access to guns. If I ask, "What does freedom mean to you?" the answer would be "More guns."
So what exactly does a gun do? What is its function? What is its purpose? If you strip away the flag waving, and the rhetoric, and the extreme nationalism, and just consider the essence of a gun as a tool, the answer would be simple. A gun's purpose is to kill.
Don't tell me that humbug about "Guns don't kill people." Yes, they do kill people (and animals). The purpose of a gun is to kill something or someone quickly and easily.
So if you believe that guns are freedom, are you willing to kill someone in the name of freedom?
The Second Amendment (shown at the top of the article) is our mostly widely contested and variably interpreted section of the US Constitution in the 21st Century. Many gun rights activists only care about the last fourteen words. Libertarians are a bit more nuanced and claim this is about having the ability to take over the government if it becomes tyrannical. They will quote the statements of the founding fathers - sometimes accurately, sometimes falsely, and sometimes out of context- to prove their point. Personally I don't feel your average libertarian really understands the concerns of of the founding fathers (who opposed the idea of a standing army, so of course they would support local militias). Most of them would tell me I'm wrong.
The right wing drumbeats are growing louder as more Americans are concerned about the misuse of guns in the wrong hands. A day doesn't go by when I don't hear how we must have guns to defend ourselves against tyranny. This is what I want to know: At what points will you take up your arms? What would it take? Most importantly, who are you willing to take your gun and kill in the name of freedom?
One argument often used by libertarians, and occasionally by self-proclaimed conservatives, is that one manifestation of our tyrannical government is our increasingly militarized police force and its suppression of protests by marginalized groups. This is an argument even I have to be in some agreement with. Police overreach is a growing problem in this country. This is one point liberals and libertarians can agree on. This tends to be a point where conservatives tend to disagree with libertarians because on average (but not always). Conservatives (and this is where they really earn my favorite nickname "regressives") tend to be law-and-order types who want a strong police force (especially if the police are pointing those military grade weapons at black people).
This is my question. If you believe that our police forces have become a tool of an oppressive regime, and you feel that guns are the only way to stop them, why haven't you done so? If you think your guns will prevent further deaths by police officers, why aren't you out there protecting the weakest and the oppressed from police violence? Why haven't you been out there at those riots with your guns shooting back the the police?
Let's go back a few years. For eight years my social media feeds were filled with conservative friends whining about how Obama was taking away their freedom. Obama took away their guns (oh wait, he didn't, but he was planning on it...), he signed the Affordable Care Act (because having people with lower incomes have access to insurance is such a freedom-killer). He overturned DOMA (because when other people have the same freedoms you do, it totally takes away all your freedom). He obviously turned this country into a communist totalitarian regime. Why didn't you take him out?
I know it's not easy to assassinate a president, but I'm sure it's not impossible. The Constitution gives you a right to a militia. Do you belong to one? Maybe you should join or start one? You should have done so when Obama was president. Train as a sniper. Better yet, you could have put a mole in the White House who would have given you a chance to just walk into the Oval Office and stuck a bullet in Obama's brain at point blank range. I know in the first couple of years you ran a risk of dealing with the line of succession. It wasn't just Obama. You would have needed a coordinated effort to take out Biden, Pelosi, and Clinton as well. So what happened? Why didn't you take your legal guns and work on this?
What happens if Trump is voted out of office? Even if he wins in 2020, a Democrat might make it into office in 2024. Will you be ready to defend your freedom and use your gun to take over the freedom-hating liberal communist government? I suggest you be prepared. Trump won't take away your guns, so get those militias in action.
The US military is vast. If you try to overthrow the government, it is the military's job to step in and protect it from your threat. You can't just take out the president. Your militia will have to be massive, well-trained, and stealthy. You will have to take out bases all over the entire country in a near-simultaneous attack and be quick about it. You have to take them by surprise and kill as many of them as you can before they can retaliate with their superior force (unless you own tanks, fighter jets, and drones of your own in addition to your guns).
Conservative worship the military. I hope killing all those soldiers and sailors doesn't cause too much cognitive dissonance. I hope the US veterans in the militia don't feel too bad about killing their brothers in arms. I assume you don't plan to do anything to help their spouses and children.
(I assume in the case of your assassination of Obama, you would have killed Michelle, Sasha, and Malia and done what the Bolsheviks did to the Czar and his family and thrown them in a pit, or maybe do what they did to Mussolini and his mistress and hang their bodies upside down from meat hooks in the city center.)
If guns equal freedom, then stop whining and tell me how you plan to use your gun to defend against the government. Guns do kill people. You aren't going to overthrow the government with hammers, knives, and jujitsu. You can't say you want to use your gun to overthrow a repressive government and say you don't want to kill anyone. If you think you need a gun to defend your freedom, then walk the walk. Tell me who you are willing to kill in the name of freedom.
Then again, Martin Luther King and Gandhi somehow managed to change the laws and even remove an imperial power without violence. Just saying.
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