Replies

OK, I'll post again. But I have to say the quality of your arguments has not improved!

1. A few respondents seem to support my contention by arguing that Tanks beat small arms.

This is one of my favorite points in this debate. The gun radicals will hilariously later make the claim that we ought to be able to own anti-tank weapons! Did you hear they are patrolling airport to make sure no shoulder mounted SAMs are targeted at passenger planes! More access to arms is NOT what the country needs.

2. A few of you resort of ad-hominem attacks

(yawn) Cyberspace makes my skin thick--keep thinking if you've got the horsepower.

3. One poster notes that US troops being inherently conservative would never obey an order to attack thier own populace.

Anyone recall Kent State?!

There were a few intelligent posts (or at least one) that correctly observes that the stability of our consitutional system depends not on the farcical proposition that we might take up arms against the government but instead on the fundamental principle of the rule of law. Of course this just supports my point that non-registration is unsupported by the 'protect democracy from tyranny by arms' rant.

Anyone recall Kent State?!

Yes, all the more reason for citizens to be armed. The Kent State fiasco was a result of poorly trained National Guard troops and thier equally poorly trained commanders.

This is one of my favorite points in this debate. The gun radicals will hilariously later make the claim that we ought to be able to own anti-tank weapons! Did you hear they are patrolling airport to make sure no shoulder mounted SAMs are targeted at passenger planes! More access to arms is NOT what the country needs.

You apparently skipped the Vietnam War in your march to become an uninformed history teacher, eh?

2. A few of you resort of ad-hominem attacks.

Terrible, just terrible. Call the police.

Quote: "Its [sic] easy to rile up you yahoos by posting an anti-gun article."

You teach "American Government?" That is the actual course title? Well lets's assume you are telling the truth. Certainly you must be familiar with what the founding fathers of our American government wrote about the right to keep and bear arms. In case you need a refresher, here are a few well know quotes.

I encourage you now to post the anti right to keep and bear arms arguements of your own selected list of founding fathers, and then we shall compare them.

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"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater … confidence than an armed man." Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and punishment (1764).

"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property . . . Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them." Thomas Paine, Thoughts on Defensive War (1775).

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." Thomas Jefferson, Proposed Virginia Constitution (1776).

"The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword, because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops." Noah Webster, An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution Proposed BV the Late Convention (1787).

"To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense or by partial orders of towns...is a dissolution of the government." John Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (1787-1788).

"Americans need not fear the federal government because they enjoy the advantage of being armed, which you possess over the people of almost every other nation." James Madison.

"A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves and include all men capable of bearing arms …To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms . . . " Richard Henry Lee, Additional Letters From the Federal Farmer 53 (1788).

"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." George Mason, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788).

"…The said Constitution be never construed …to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." Samuel Adams, during Massachusetts's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788).

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined." Patrick Henry, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)

"Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." --James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 46