Guns, Government, & Freedom
Guns are made to kill. That is a fact. That is, in fact, their
only purpose, even if it isn't their only use (after all, humanity is rather infamous for finding
uses for things far beyond their purposes). Guns are weapons of war. That's
rather a "well, duh!" statement, but bear with me. We may use guns
to hunt, but again, the integral purpose of destruction embodied within a
firearm is not compromised by that pursuit. It may just be me, but I think
that it is the perceptions of that blatant purpose that lies at the heart of the
gun control debates: Is destruction inherently a bad thing?
The ability to destroy is a form of power. Make no mistake on that
score. If you don't believe me, ask the IRS. The patriots who formed first the Confederated States of America and then the
United States of America knew this fact very well. Furthermore, they knew that
the disarmament of a nation's populace is a necessary prelude to oppression -
especially in a democracy "of the People, for the People, and by the People."1
It was this realization that lead them to draft and ratify the Second Amendment
to the US Constitution, also known as the Right to Bear Arms.
Now, why do I say "especially in a democracy"? Well, democracy is a political institution where
each citizen has a voice in how their government runs and the laws that govern
their lives. Without some sense of power, the average Joe Schmoe is about
as likely to get involved in his government as a credit issuing agency is to
give a teenager an unsecured credit card - if it happens, it's fluke. The fewer
the people who are actively engaged in the governing of a nation, the more
concentrated is the power of engagement that devolves to those who seek it.
Or to quote a Latin proverb, "A man may lose what are his clearest rights by not
demanding them."
Gun ownership empowers a citizenry because a man with a gun has less to fear
from his government than a man with only his words.
Now, the make-up of our society has changed from that of the Founding
Fathers. Though a significant portion of our economy is still agrarian,
the heart of our wealth lies now in our technological advances, which are
fundamentally enabled by the strength of our agricultural advances. Most
Americans today can buy the food that the majority of our ancestors all had to
eek out of the land. Turning food into a commodity promoted the growth of
cities as less people were tied to the land, and that in turn removed a large
part of our population from the basic realities of what it takes to get the food
from the land to the table. If you have ever butchered an animal for the meat
you then ate, you are in the minority in America today. This removal from
the reaping of our harvests and the butchering of our meat has allowed the
nurturing aspects of our humanity to develop without the blatant significance of
the destruction necessary for us to survive.
On one hand, that's a good thing. Where previously we lacked the
resources to provide for the majority of our weak, our sick, and our disabled,
our agricultural riches now enable us to spend not only the resources of food
and shelter, but also of time and energy seeking treatments and cures. Our
ancestors saw as natural that those who were either born deformed or crippled by
accidents or illnesses later in life would die long before a person of sound
body. Our generation no longer accepts that premise. Instead, we
embrace a culture of prolonging life and easing suffering. Such a culture
often finds it difficult to recognize the need for a tool whose only purpose is
destruction.
On the other hand, that self-same Culture of Curing prompts debacles like the
Terri Shiavo case.
Regardless, destructive tools are still necessary. As much as we crave
to live in a utopian world, most of us are not ready for the profound change our
basic natures would need to undergo to realize for such a ideal. For example,
how many people do you know who honestly discuss their deeply held beliefs while
those beliefs are challenged without feeling that they, themselves, are under
attack? As a society, we have a very difficult time discussing emotionally
charged issues without a significant portion of the citizenry finding that it
isn't just physical danger that amps up the flight or fight reflex. Taken
to extremes, we get terrorists like those of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and al-Qaeda.
Leaving ourselves vulnerable to another's violent reactions is a recipe for
disaster - the disaster of oppression.
Again, guns are a means to power. True, it is the power of might and
destruction and not of righteousness, but who living among today's modern
population is free from moral failings? Righteousness as power will only
take you so far. Shoot, even Divine Righteousness is backed up by Divine
Might. Human might is necessary to enable human righteousness until the
day that the concept of Peace through Superior Might dies out completely.
1. The Gettysburg Address
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm