Weapons of war

Quote:

Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom? Congress shall have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American… The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the People. -- Tench Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb 20, 1788

The phrase, "Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier," is one that has stuck with me ever since I first read this quote. It recognizes that these weapons are dangerous, that they can cause terrible injury or death. It embodies the wisdom that the handling of these weapons is not something to be done lightly, but with care and purpose.

The right that the Second Amendment guarantees exists for several reasons. Some of these reasons are:

• That law abiding citizens can defend themselves and others from personal assault


• That the citizenry be equipped to serve as the militia should it be required for the defense of the country


• That the citizenry be equipped to defend themselves from an oppressive government

A pistol or shotgun should suffice for most instances of the first, though there may be time when a more powerful rifle will be required. It's the other two that require the more terrible of the implements that soldiers normally use. This includes high-powered rifles and fully automatic machine guns. And, yes, even weapons such as rocket launchers and grenades. The armed citizenry must be able to defend itself against the armed forces of the United States should the government turn on the people, and do so effectively. That is the most important reason that the Second Amendment exists. The men who wrote the Constitution had just finished doing exactly that and they knew more than anybody that the people of this country might have to do so again despite their best efforts.

When I decided to join the ranks of armed citizens, one of the largest influences was the essay by Eric S. Raymond titled, "Ethics from the Barrel of a Gun: What Bearing Weapons Teaches About the Good Life." In it, he says:

We live with a recent history of massacres by governments that have dwarfed in scope and cruelty anything Barlow or Jefferson could have imagined. The Turkish massacre of the Armenians, the Nazi final solution, the Soviet purges, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Hutu-Tutsi massacres in Rwanda; each and every one of these vast and hideous slaughters was preceded by and relied upon the disarmament of the victims.

It is more important than ever, today after a century of blood, that we retain the power both to protect ourselves and to discern the cause of such oppressions. That cause has never been in civilian arms borne by free people, but in their opposite and enemy — the organized and conscienceless brutality of cancerous states. (emphasis mine)

Our government has not progressed to the state where we must consider massive armed insurrection. But the day may come when that is the only thing that stands between freedom and subjugation. We must be ready. We will hope for the best, but we must be prepared for the worst.