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Aug. 24th, 2007 06:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
somedaybitchgosh, this couldn't *possibly* be because criminals don't use legal channels to purchase weapons, could it? naaaaahhhhhh. that's just crazy talk.
the article links to this older piece of theirs. two bits jump out at me.
emphasis mine, and yes, that exactly. law enforcement is reactionary for the most part. sometimes it gets lucky in its proactive work but more often than not, and *not* through any lack of effort on their part, the cops only find out about stuff after it happens. and when, generation after generation, society tells its citizens to rely on the government to take care of them, those citizens stop taking care of themselves. people call the cops, bitter and angry because the cops "aren't doing something to keep me and my family safe". well, what are those people doing about it themselves? yes, there's a balance between proactive citizens and vigilante behavior certainly, but simply because an endeavor requires constant work and attention doesn't mean it should be abandoned all together as too hard. the cops can't protect you, they can only help you protect yourself.
the other bit was this:
this is why gun ownership advocates keep throwing down the 2nd Amendment, to keep something like that from happening here. it may be with good intentions that people clamor for gun control, but an unarmed public is a victim culture.
the article links to this older piece of theirs. two bits jump out at me.
This is a reversal of centuries of common law that not only permitted but expected individuals to defend themselves, their families, and their neighbors when other help was not available. It was a legal tradition passed on to Americans. Personal security was ranked first among an individual's rights by William Blackstone, the great 18th-century exponent of the common law. It was a right, he argued, that no government could take away, since no government could protect the individual in his moment of need. A century later Blackstone's illustrious successor, A.V. Dicey, cautioned, "discourage self-help and loyal subjects become the slaves of ruffians."
emphasis mine, and yes, that exactly. law enforcement is reactionary for the most part. sometimes it gets lucky in its proactive work but more often than not, and *not* through any lack of effort on their part, the cops only find out about stuff after it happens. and when, generation after generation, society tells its citizens to rely on the government to take care of them, those citizens stop taking care of themselves. people call the cops, bitter and angry because the cops "aren't doing something to keep me and my family safe". well, what are those people doing about it themselves? yes, there's a balance between proactive citizens and vigilante behavior certainly, but simply because an endeavor requires constant work and attention doesn't mean it should be abandoned all together as too hard. the cops can't protect you, they can only help you protect yourself.
the other bit was this:
The 1920 Firearms Act was the first serious British restriction on guns. Although crime was low in England in 1920, the government feared massive labor disruption and a Bolshevik revolution.
this is why gun ownership advocates keep throwing down the 2nd Amendment, to keep something like that from happening here. it may be with good intentions that people clamor for gun control, but an unarmed public is a victim culture.
