When “smart” people argue that the 2nd Amendment wasn’t really meant to protect “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”, I remind them that this prohibition on government power was written by men who remembered Lexington and Concord, and knew that the first thing the tyrant does is disarm any that might stand against him. (That is to say, the British were marching for the specific purpose of seizing the arms of the people. And the people, rather than allowing their arms to be seized, shot back instead.)
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. We forget this at our peril.
When “smart” people argue that the 2nd Amendment wasn’t really meant to protect “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”, I remind them that this prohibition on government power was written by men who remembered Lexington and Concord, and knew that the first thing the tyrant does is disarm any that might stand against him. (That is to say, the British were marching for the specific purpose of seizing the arms of the people. And the people, rather than allowing their arms to be seized, shot back instead.)
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. We forget this at our peril.