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Why the 2nd Amendment
Creators Syndicate ^ | Jabuary 2, 2013 | Walter E. Williams

Posted on 12/31/2012 11:59:33 AM PST by jazusamo

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings, said: "The British are not coming. ... We don't need all these guns to kill people." Lewis' vision, shared by many, represents a gross ignorance of why the framers of the Constitution gave us the Second Amendment. How about a few quotes from the period and you decide whether our Founding Fathers harbored a fear of foreign tyrants.

Alexander Hamilton: "The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed," adding later, "If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government." By the way, Hamilton is referring to what institution when he says "the representatives of the people"?

James Madison: "(The Constitution preserves) the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation ... (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."

Thomas Jefferson: "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."

George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, which inspired our Constitution's Bill of Rights, said, "To disarm the people — that was the best and most effectual way to enslave them."

(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: banglist; democrats; guncontrol; obama; secondamendment; williams; youwillnotdisarmus
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1 posted on 12/31/2012 11:59:36 AM PST by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

Pfl


2 posted on 12/31/2012 12:04:31 PM PST by Clump ( the tree of liberty is withering like a stricken fig tree)
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To: jazusamo
Yo' Rep. Lewis... The British aren't coming. They are already here.

THEY ARE YOU.

3 posted on 12/31/2012 12:06:26 PM PST by Dead Corpse (I will not comply.)
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To: jazusamo
The Jews did not know the Nazis were coming.

The Germans passed a strict gun contol law in 1928, just before Hitler was voted in, in 1933.

4 posted on 12/31/2012 12:09:27 PM PST by gatex (NRA, and Gun Owners of America)
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To: jazusamo
George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, which inspired our Constitution's Bill of Rights

Not really. Both were inspired by the English Bill of Rights of 1689.

I don't understand why conservatives don't reference the 1689 BoR more often.

It specifically returned the right to keep and bear arms to Protestants, who had recently been disarmed by a tyrant king. Of course, only those the government of the time thought reliable were given this right: Protestants and members of the upper classes.

Our BoR went a step farther and recognized that all people had the right to be armed.

5 posted on 12/31/2012 12:09:42 PM PST by Sherman Logan
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To: Dead Corpse

Exactly...


6 posted on 12/31/2012 12:09:42 PM PST by jazusamo ("Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." -- Adam Smith)
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To: jazusamo
George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, which inspired our Constitution's Bill of Rights

Not really. Both were inspired by the English Bill of Rights of 1689.

I don't understand why conservatives don't reference the 1689 BoR more often.

It specifically returned the right to keep and bear arms to Protestants, who had recently been disarmed by a tyrant king. Of course, only those the government of the time thought reliable were given this right: Protestants and members of the upper classes.

Our BoR went a step farther and recognized that all people had the right to be armed.

7 posted on 12/31/2012 12:12:06 PM PST by Sherman Logan
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To: jazusamo
Today's Americans are vastly better-armed than our founders

Quite true. But the disproportion between the firepower of the patriot militia and that of the British army was a LOT less that between today's unorganized militia and a modern military force.

8 posted on 12/31/2012 12:16:10 PM PST by Sherman Logan
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To: jazusamo
Williams must have been reading this thread, Regulating the Militia - The Second Amendment is about protecting ourselves from the state, because he just happens to quote the same passage by Hamilton from the Federalist Papers that I posted in this post, and again in this post, three days ago.

Or, it's quite the coincidence that we both pulled the same obscure quote at the same time.

-PJ

9 posted on 12/31/2012 12:17:01 PM PST by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: jazusamo
STICK TO YOUR GUNS
10 posted on 12/31/2012 12:19:34 PM PST by SENTINEL (I lie, I cheat, I steal, I communize, I sacrifice unborn babies, I'm Harry Reid and I'm a mormon)
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To: Sherman Logan
A good point. Should it ever come to a shooting rebellion I believe that many police and military would not fire on Americans fighting for our Constitution though hopefully it doesn't come to that.
11 posted on 12/31/2012 12:24:54 PM PST by jazusamo ("Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." -- Adam Smith)
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To: Clump
In the ante-bellum South, slaves were not allowed to keep or bear arms.

So John Lewis supports a return to slavery.

12 posted on 12/31/2012 12:26:43 PM PST by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Implementing class warfare by having no class.)
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To: Political Junkie Too

Interesting...Thanks. I wouldn’t doubt that Williams reads FR and I don’t normally believe in coincidences.


13 posted on 12/31/2012 12:29:03 PM PST by jazusamo ("Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." -- Adam Smith)
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To: jazusamo

the criminals are coming.

the crazies that shot up your kids, are coming. yes let’s stay disarmed so the next crazie has an easy time blowing away a bunch of people.

the crazies are not law abiding gun owners, this is the disconnect. all people with guns are not all automatically bad. they see people every day that have guns aned never know it.

gun owners who carry generally are nicer than average because they don’t want trouble - because whatever trouble they get into gets “while armed” added onto it.


14 posted on 12/31/2012 12:30:18 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: jazusamo

Write Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga down on a Google search for images and you will see the problem right off.


15 posted on 12/31/2012 12:48:08 PM PST by Venturer
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To: jazusamo

I don’t believe that for a minute.

Police and military will do what they are told.

A few may balk, but the vast majority will do what they are told. After all they get to keep their guns.


16 posted on 12/31/2012 12:50:49 PM PST by Venturer
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To: jazusamo
you are the reason john lewis... you and every tyrant in DC. We have to be armed because we would be your slave without them. May your days be short and your eternity spent burning.

LLS

17 posted on 12/31/2012 1:04:56 PM PST by LibLieSlayer (FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!)
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To: Sherman Logan
Today's Americans are vastly better-armed than our founders

So is the enemy of the people.

18 posted on 12/31/2012 1:10:20 PM PST by Iron Munro (I MISS AMERICA !)
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To: jazusamo

WHY THE OBAMATRON LEFTISTS AND OTHER ANTI-CONSTITUTIONALISTS WANT GUN CONTROL

Found the following at http://www.grouchyoldcripple.com/

In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control.
From 1929 to 1953, approximately 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control.
From 1915-1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938.
From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill, and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935.
From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970.
From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
From 1975 to 1977, one million “educated” people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

That places total victims who lost their lives because of gun control at approximately 56 million in the last century.

Since we should learn from the mistakes of history, the next time someone talks in favor of gun control, find out which group of citizens they wish to have exterminated.


19 posted on 12/31/2012 1:24:04 PM PST by Iron Munro (I MISS AMERICA !)
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To: Venturer

The problem is south Fulton County, much of which is in this person’s district.


20 posted on 12/31/2012 1:24:19 PM PST by Little Ray (Get back to work. Your urban masters need their EBTs refilled.)
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