Posted on 01/15/2024 4:19:21 AM PST by marktwain
The United States Constitution and the Second Amendment are shining examples of freedom and limitation on government power over much of the world. The Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms are envied by millions of people in the rest of the world, very plausibly by hundreds of millions. They are particularly envied when the governments are known to be corrupt and common people are disrespected, intimidated, and lorded over. Cuba and Venezuela come to mind. An incident in Panama from 1989 is illuminating.
In 1989, this correspondent was working for the U.S. Army. Through a series of fortuitous events, I was assigned one of the posh residences on Ancon Hill, near Gorgas Army Hospital. As the U.S. economic embargo against the Noriega regime tightened the economic screws, the poorest people were suffering. Ancon Hill is next to the border of the old Panama Canal Zone. A couple of beggars managed to make it up to the residences to ask for work and food.
My policy was to require a little work and to give them a dollar or two and a couple of cans of food. One of them spoke pretty good English, and we were able to converse a bit about the state of affairs. He was an educated man, about 50, who was not happy with El Presidente Noriega. He opined the same situation could never happen in the United States.
“¿Por qué?” I asked, in my very bad Spanish.
“Because”, He said, “In the United States, everyone has guns. The Rifle Association will not let them take the guns.”
I was amazed. There was a poor Panamanian man who knew more than many Americans about the purposes of the Second Amendment. We had a good conversation.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
“A great many people around the world wish they had the right to keep and bear arms.”
But they do have the right. All human beings do. What they don’t have are governments that respect that right.
L
It's almost as if Freedom isn't free. Not freely given. Not freely kept.
AMEN! The Right to keep and bear arms is purely a HUMAN right! interesting that it TAKES guns to TAKE guns. how ironic is that?
You are correct.
Great writing.
You are a credit to FR.
“ The Right to keep and bear arms is purely a HUMAN right!”
“That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights…”
Some people say I quibble over minor points. Those people are wrong.
God didn’t bestow rights on only people who happen to be Americans. His rights apply equally to all humans everywhere on the planet. Saying that people in Ecuador don’t have the rights we codified in the 2nd amendment simply because of where they live betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire concept of human rights.
So I’ll call that error out every time I see it even if it’s being made by someone as estimable as Mr. Weingarten.
L
A lot of good the 2nd is doing us these days. Guess things just haven’t gotten bad enough yet. What is tipping point? Government just took a chunk of it away from us here in illannoy under the guise of “democracy”, ie majority rules...democrat control.
my feeling exactly. ALL humans have a natural right to protect their person, their families, their neighbors and their communities anywhere and everywhere on planet Earth, using whatever means THEY decide are necessary and NO ONE has the natural right to TAKE that right away. and yet here we are in History. those who would insist that “no one should have a gun” are the stupidest and most uninformed of all simply because they Ignore the History of man’s inhumanity toward man and somehow believe it doesn’t happen so no one needs to protect themselves from other humans with guns. it is naive and foolish to believe that those who are willing to use guns to take guns are doing it out of goodwill. interesting too that the anti-gun activists don’t seem to have as big a problem with guns as they’d like us all to believe...after all, they hire people WITH guns to take YOUR guns. it’s a “vicarious” way to point a gun at you and not feel guilty about it.
“ and NO ONE has the natural right to TAKE that right away.”
They don’t have the right to take it away but they do have the power.
Human beings have rights.
Governments have powers.
L
Ditto. You should read his ongoing Bear Chronicles, they’re amazing, hopefully they get published in a book form. Hint-hint.
It is a race right now.
Between the leftists who want to take away the right with the ultimate goal of enslaving the populous and the eventuality that we will need the right to defend ourselves slavery.
Slavery is not too extreme of a word. World history shows us that the masses will eventually be enslaved if they aren’t already. The masses will be used to serve the elites.
This.
It’s my contention that the Second Amendment applies to the whole world, it’s just that there are a lot of illegitimate governments out there.
The Second Amendment protects The First Amendment.
Our Free Speech Rights are on
Life Support- No Doubt.
.
My MegaPhones Battery is Dead.
But I still make a Great ‘Sandwich Board!’
.
THE END
IS NEAR
What a seer!
In 1994, he foresaw the red MAGA hat!
right?
I am referring to the red hat on the Zorbonian in post 16.
yes, i was agreeing with you...
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