Recently, I drove a few buddies to dinner. On the way, one of them noticed the NRA sticker asphyxiated on my pickup and asked if I had another sticker. He felt bad, as a member of the NRA, for not having a sticker on his truck. Another guy in the back asked what we actually received from the NRA.
It bears repeating, the NRA’s function. Too often I hear the same, tired arguments… “Outside of hunting,” the detractors ask-as if that’s some sort of consolation, “What function has gun ownership?” “Why would someone need more than one shotgun or rifle?” “What purpose do handguns serve outside killing people, anyways?”
The NRA protects private citizens and their inherent right to bear arms. More than just hunting or personal protection, there is one primary function of private gun ownership many liberals ignore and conservatives are afraid to voice-because it sounds “extreme.”
That is, the citizenry needs the right to own guns because, should the government become too oppressive, we need the ability to overthrow an illegitimate rule. Liberals see the government as the main source of good in the world and fail to see why it may need to be “afraid” of the populace. In fact we, at foundersporch, believe it’s the opposite. Government, outside its very limited legitimate functions, is a great source of evil. Should it become too overbearing, the threat of overthrow must exist. Hopefully, just by that possibility existing, it will never have to be exercised. But, throughout history, profound examples of precisely this exercise exist.
More than just a lobbying body, the NRA is a civil rights organization, advocating for the preservation of the Second Amendment. That right is essential to the continuation of secure, stable governance.
Today, I passed a test on proper rifle safety and use. A few minutes later, as I was looking down the scope of my rifle, I thought about what a rifle is… It’s a mass of metal pieces, put together in a beautiful fashion, unable to inflict damage on its own. It needs an operator.
Most people I know who are anti-gun are not gun owners. This does not, logically by itself, omit their criticisms of private gun ownership, but it is indicative of an overall disconnect. Not being brought up in a culture accepting of guns, they are afraid of them. Afraid of the unknown.
Overall, it’s important to remember the historical magnitude of the Second Amendment, why the Founding Fathers recognized it and the NRA’s legitimate function in protecting it. This argument must be repeated to other conservatives to remind them. It must be repeated to liberals to educate.
It bears repeating, the NRA’s function. Too often I hear the same, tired arguments… “Outside of hunting,” the detractors ask-as if that’s some sort of consolation, “What function has gun ownership?” “Why would someone need more than one shotgun or rifle?” “What purpose do handguns serve outside killing people, anyways?”
The NRA protects private citizens and their inherent right to bear arms. More than just hunting or personal protection, there is one primary function of private gun ownership many liberals ignore and conservatives are afraid to voice-because it sounds “extreme.”
That is, the citizenry needs the right to own guns because, should the government become too oppressive, we need the ability to overthrow an illegitimate rule. Liberals see the government as the main source of good in the world and fail to see why it may need to be “afraid” of the populace. In fact we, at foundersporch, believe it’s the opposite. Government, outside its very limited legitimate functions, is a great source of evil. Should it become too overbearing, the threat of overthrow must exist. Hopefully, just by that possibility existing, it will never have to be exercised. But, throughout history, profound examples of precisely this exercise exist.
More than just a lobbying body, the NRA is a civil rights organization, advocating for the preservation of the Second Amendment. That right is essential to the continuation of secure, stable governance.
Today, I passed a test on proper rifle safety and use. A few minutes later, as I was looking down the scope of my rifle, I thought about what a rifle is… It’s a mass of metal pieces, put together in a beautiful fashion, unable to inflict damage on its own. It needs an operator.
Most people I know who are anti-gun are not gun owners. This does not, logically by itself, omit their criticisms of private gun ownership, but it is indicative of an overall disconnect. Not being brought up in a culture accepting of guns, they are afraid of them. Afraid of the unknown.
Overall, it’s important to remember the historical magnitude of the Second Amendment, why the Founding Fathers recognized it and the NRA’s legitimate function in protecting it. This argument must be repeated to other conservatives to remind them. It must be repeated to liberals to educate.
2 comments:
Pretty good Rob. Your well-chiseled points have pushed me back to the middle ground on whether or not assault rifles and their ammunition should be available to the qualified public. I guess the difficulty is that no one would *really* need to start training with one until things were really looking grim for the country - yet as things get grimmer it would become more difficult to acquire one.
Good job getting to the philosophical core of it. I'm kind of a snerdly to on this, but I guess I agree with you (as far as not repealing the 2nd amendment. Obviously there shouldn't be any question on whether we can have guns as long as there's an amendment).
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