No More Infringements
[A letter I wrote to the Albany Times Union on 1 May, 2001. They didn't print it]
An op-ed in the 4/30 TU claimed that additional infringements of the second amendment would not be sufficient to prevent future violence. I agree. Disarming the victims will never work. Hanging a "Helpless victims zone" sign on our schools will not protect our children. More likely the opposite. Simply brandishing a weapon is often sufficient to repel an attacker.
Even though self-defense is a good reason for personal firearms ownership, that is not the purpose of the second amendment. Our right to keep and bear arms was guaranteed by the authors of America's Bill of Rights because they had recently fought for independence from British tyranny. America's militia armed with personal weapons defeated England's army. The spark that ignited the shot heard round the world was an attempt by the Crown to confiscate those weapons. The Founders wanted to ensure that future tyranny could be quashed in a similar manner.
Anyone who would deny the ability of individuals to protect their families and their liberty is inviting history to repeat itself. Russia, China, Germany, Cambodia, and many other governments were able to murder millions of their own people because those people were first disarmed. Don't let it happen here.
There's a name for a country where only the police have guns. It's called a police state.
Bill St. Clair
bill@billstclair.com
