Posted on 01/17/2013 8:29:38 PM PST by neverdem
The public discourse suddenly swirls angrily around this issue: How big a gun should people be allowed to own, with how many bullets? Despite all the furor, the question has a very simple answer. But it's the wrong question.
Even those who routinely carry a concealed weapon, and certainly many who don't, wrestle with the question, "How much firepower does anyone need?" Perhaps those who don't own weapons think the answer should be very close to zero. Those who know that many times each year violent attacks are stopped when someone simply shows a weapon understand that self-defense tools are legitimate and necessary, but still worry about where the line should be above that level.
Legislators are hurriedly drafting a variety of bills to answer the question, phrasing them in terms of how evil a weapon looks, whether it automatically chambers the next shell for you, and how many cartridges it can feed. For those more knowledgeable about guns, the real concern is with things far beyond the personal defense category: rocket-propelled grenades, for example, the sort of things jihadists bring to a party at the U.S. embassy.
Here are some simple, foundational ideas to help sort it out.
The first principle is that the federal government has no constitutional say whatsoever in the size or quantity of weapons maintained by the people -- because that very government is the most dangerous person in the room. The Second Amendment has one purpose: to ensure that "we the people" can withstand a tyrannical government, for perhaps the first time in history. The writings of James Madison (Federalist #46), among others, make that abundantly clear...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“Big enough” is whatever is appropriate to protect my land and my family. The range of predators and varmints goes from rabbits to #400 hogs. Sometimes I must work while armed because of coyotes and bears. The needs vary, so the weapons vary. None of it is the government’s business.
Just what is the implication here?..
my answer: Bigger than your women are used to, little man.
Rule of thumb: 1 caliber larger than the largest the government has supplied to drug cartels.
I'll take one of these.
Forget 500 HP. My 2011 Sonata has a speedometer with a160 mph top. Don’t know if it will do 160, but it’s done 130 with some pedal still left. Any 19 year old male has access to cars that go past 120. What’s more dangerous, some 40 year old good citizen with a mini 14 and AR locked in his gun closet or a 19 year old male on a Sat nite behind the wheel of a Hyundai Veloster with a 1.6 turbo?
BTW, did anyone know there are no laws regulating or prohibiting flamethrowers? Nothing says “stopping power” like a squirt of 2,200 degree Fahrenheit flaming jellied gasoline.
What I absolutely must have is the freedom to make that choice myself. Without that, we have tyranny.
I hear that those Sonatas have plenty of engine.
Problem is they run out of suspension at those speeds, and then...
BLAMMO!
Any firearm I can carry will still weigh a damn sight less than any cop I could carry.
Agreed. Hat tip.
20mm anti tank Lahti
I wonder if anyone has every come out of a firefight or self defensive shooting situation thinking: “I wish I hadn’t had so many rounds of ammunition.”
Although I feel offended by the “Damn Skippy!” reference ... I don’t really know your motive.
Nonetheless I agree it is not the bill of “needs”, it is the bill of “rights”.
every = ever
“when a cigar band will suffice?”
I prefer the pull tabs on beer cans. they don’t tear nor rust. :-)
jellied gasoline? how’s that on toast?
By God! Thar’s a reasonable solution that No one could be offended by!
No offense meant.
It was merely a SoCal colloquialism.
Diggit
How big are the guns that the bad guys are carrying?
That big.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.