Posted By:
warshawlawAn intruder comes through my door he goes out in a body bag. Period.
One thing I find very interesting is how totalitarian regimes move to ban civilian arms ownership. Some of the worst perpetrators of genocides over the last 100 years have first banned citizens from owning weapons:
Ottoman Turkey
Armenians (mostly Christians) 1-1.5 million murdered
Art. 166, Pen. Code, 1866 & 1911 Proclamation, 1915
• Permits required •Government list of owners •Ban on possession
Soviet Union
Political opponents; farming communities 20 million (at least) murdered through the gulag system
Resolutions, 1918 Decree, July 12, 1920 Art. 59 & 182, Pen. code, 1926
•Licensing of owners •Ban on possession •Severe penalties
Nazi Germany & Occupied Europe
Political opponents; Jews; Gypsies; critics 20 million murdered
Law on Firearms & Ammun., 1928 Weapon Law, March 18, 1938
•Registration & Licensing •Stricter handgun laws •Ban on possession
China
Political opponents; Rural populations Enemies of the state 20-35 million murdered or starved
Act of Feb. 20, 1951 Act of Oct. 22, 1957
•Prison or death to "counter-revolutionary criminals" and anyone resisting any government program •Death penalty for supply guns to such "criminals"
Cambodia (Khmer Rouge)
Educated Persons; Political enemies 2 million murdered
Art. 322-328, Penal Code Royal Ordinance 55, 1938
•Licenses for guns, owners, ammunition & transactions •Photo ID with fingerprints •License inspected quarterly
Rwanda
Tutsi people 800,000 murdered
Decree-Law No. 12, 1979
•Register guns, owners, ammunition •Owners must justify need •Concealable guns illegal •Confiscating powers
Am I saying that every gun regulation is wrong? Of course not. Only a fool would advocate that sort of position. I support background checks before sales, bans on certain types of weapons like fully automatic machine guns (but ban them based on performance, not looking scary), and mandatory firearms training and safety storage before a gun is turned over to a purchaser. However, as a member of a small minority group that has been targeted repeatedly by officially sanctioned violence and official violence, I firmly believe that the most fundamental safeguard against tyranny is the right to own guns. On November 10. 1938 -- one day after the Nazi party terror squads (the SS) savaged thousands of Jews, synagogues and Jewish businesses throughout Germany -- new regulations under the Weapons Law specifically barred Jews from owning any weapons, even clubs or knives. As Adolph Hitler said: "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms; history shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected people to carry arms have prepared their own fall."
"The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals." President James Monroe (November 16, 1818)