A kid in China just killed 9 with a knife - do you plan on banning them too?
As to your "cannon" meme, it just shows how ignorant you are. Many DID own them as anyone COULD, and mortars as well. They could also own what amounted to battleships - ships designed and built to do nothing but carry a hundred or so cannon and fire them at other ships to give them the choice of sinking or surrendering.
In times of conflict, CONgress could and did issue letters of marque and reprisal which allowed such owners to go after any ships flying the enemy's flag and keep the proceeds for their own profit.
Then there's the subject of the Constitution. It is ultimately the supreme law of the land, and as long as it's ignored we are in a situation where there simply is NO RULE OF LAW!
If you don't like what it says, then AMEND IT - the process is clear-cut and has been done more than 20 times now! Ignoring it however is quite simply *NOT* an option!
Lastly, I'll be blunt: how many of us are you willing to kill to get to your "gun-free utopia"?
A hundred?
A thousand?
A million?
Three million?
Ten million?
The fact is that there are a LARGE number of us out here with the historical literacy to understand that tyranny is a natural product of power - and that a disarmed citizenry is unable to keep the tyrants in check.
We'd rather die than forfeit our birthright of citizenship and our G*d-given rights to self-defense.
To be even more blunt, those willing to die for a principle are also generally willing to help others do so as well - and most I know would be more than capable of seeing that they take a few of their enemies with them.
Even if only three percent of Americans were to refuse to submit, that's ten million people you'll have to kill to implement your "utopia." Even if it's only three percent of gun-owners that's still something close to four million - and most of them aren't going to die alone!
Somehow a hot civil war and at least 8-10 million dead doesn't sound very good to me - but then I'm one of Dear Reader's "bitter clingers" you lot love to hate so much so...
One final question: After you've finished your civil war and buried millions of dead that result, how are you going to stop the average "handy" man or woman from building more guns?
Even the most basic internet search would show you film of Urdu tribesman in Pakistan working in CAVES, with hand-tools, making firearms out of scrap-metal that are pretty much indistinguishable from "the real thing."
Even the most basic combination of some bits of pipe, a 2x4, a nail and a rubber-band can easily yield a rudimentary shotgun that's more than adequate for the task, and full-auto submachine guns are only a bit more complex but still within the power of most real men using only basic hand-tools and parts available at any well-stocked hardware store.
Search for "expedient homemade firearms" for some eye-opening education!
The simple reality is that the occasional nutjob is the price we pay for LIBERTY. A truly FREE society is *NOT* a truly SAFE one - but then old Ben Franklin warned us centuries ago that "those who trade their essential liberty for a little illusion of safety deserve and will have neither."
If that's what you want, we won't stand in your way - but don't try to take our Liberty from us!
If you don't want a gun, don't buy one -- but you'd damn well better leave MINE alone!
A kid in China just killed 9 with a knife - do you plan on banning them too?
As to your "cannon" meme, it just shows how ignorant you are. Many DID own them as anyone COULD, and mortars as well. They could also own what amounted to battleships - ships designed and built to do nothing but carry a hundred or so cannon and fire them at other ships to give them the choice of sinking or surrendering.
In times of conflict, CONgress could and did issue letters of marque and reprisal which allowed such owners to go after any ships flying the enemy's flag and keep the proceeds for their own profit.
Then there's the subject of the Constitution. It is ultimately the supreme law of the land, and as long as it's ignored we are in a situation where there simply is NO RULE OF LAW!
If you don't like what it says, then AMEND IT - the process is clear-cut and has been done more than 20 times now! Ignoring it however is quite simply *NOT* an option!
Lastly, I'll be blunt: how many of us are you willing to kill to get to your "gun-free utopia"?
A hundred?
A thousand?
A million?
Three million?
Ten million?
The fact is that there are a LARGE number of us out here with the historical literacy to understand that tyranny is a natural product of power - and that a disarmed citizenry is unable to keep the tyrants in check.
We'd rather die than forfeit our birthright of citizenship and our G*d-given rights to self-defense.
To be even more blunt, those willing to die for a principle are also generally willing to help others do so as well - and most I know would be more than capable of seeing that they take a few of their enemies with them.
Even if only three percent of Americans were to refuse to submit, that's ten million people you'll have to kill to implement your "utopia." Even if it's only three percent of gun-owners that's still something close to four million - and most of them aren't going to die alone!
Somehow a hot civil war and at least 8-10 million dead doesn't sound very good to me - but then I'm one of Dear Reader's "bitter clingers" you lot love to hate so much so...
One final question: After you've finished your civil war and buried millions of dead that result, how are you going to stop the average "handy" man or woman from building more guns?
Even the most basic internet search would show you film of Urdu tribesman in Pakistan working in CAVES, with hand-tools, making firearms out of scrap-metal that are pretty much indistinguishable from "the real thing."
Even the most basic combination of some bits of pipe, a 2x4, a nail and a rubber-band can easily yield a rudimentary shotgun that's more than adequate for the task, and full-auto submachine guns are only a bit more complex but still within the power of most real men using only basic hand-tools and parts available at any well-stocked hardware store.
Search for "expedient homemade firearms" for some eye-opening education!
The simple reality is that the occasional nutjob is the price we pay for LIBERTY. A truly FREE society is *NOT* a truly SAFE one - but then old Ben Franklin warned us centuries ago that "those who trade their essential liberty for a little illusion of safety deserve and will have neither."
If that's what you want, we won't stand in your way - but don't try to take our Liberty from us!
If you don't want a gun, don't buy one -- but you'd damn well better leave MINE alone!
August 3, 2012 1:30:00 PM EDT