"No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He, who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him, whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; else he lives precariously, and at discretion.”
-James Burgh - Political Disquisitions
Burgh makes a compelling point about the gun being essential to basic individual freedom. The idea that life, liberty and property of are little meaning unless they can be defended by force is one that comes up consistently throughout history, particularly among the founders and their contemporaries. I think Burgh's quote gets to the heart of why guns are more than simple tools to us. They are symbols of what it means to be a free man as well as tools procured so that we may remain so.
1 comment:
Saying someone has a right is all good and well, but denying that someone the ability to express that right effectively denies them that right.
A right to self-defense is meaningless without the ability to actually defend one's person from aggressors, which, these days, typically involves some kind of force-multiplying tool. Likewise, a freedom of expressinon is meaningless if a government bans public printing presses and the internet.
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