I notice several comments above from people who apparently think that the 2nd Amendment was intended to protect the right to hunt and target shoot, and that anyone who mentions its true motivation — adduced by the founders who had just won a revolution against the mightiest military force on the planet by calling on colonials who showed up with their own guns — must be crazy. But the founders wanted to be sure that future American citizens could do it again if the need arose, which is why the 2nd Amendment refers to the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
And for those who scoff and say “It Can’t Happen Here” (an excellent book, by the way, from Sinclair Lewis; I recommend it) I offer these data, assembled and published in 1994 by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (motto: “Never Again”):
Genocides of the 20th Century
(Dates in parentheses are when gun-control laws were enacted.)
–Ottoman Turkey, 1915-1917 vs. Armenia, 1-1.5M casualties (1866, 1911)
–Soviet Union, 1929-1953, vs. anti-Communists and anti-Stalinists, 20M (1929)
–Nazi Germany+occ. Europe, 1933-1945, vs. Jews, Gypsies, Gays, and anti-Nazis, 13M (1928, 1938)
–China, 1949-1952, vs. anti-Communists, 20M (1935)
–China, 1966-1976, vs. pro-reformers, 15M (1935, 1957)
–Guatemala, 1960-1981, vs. Maya Indians, 100K (1871, 1964)
–Uganda, 1971-1979, vs. Christians and political rivals, 300K (1955, 1970)
–Cambodia, 1975-1979, vs. “intelligentsia”, 1M (1956)
I notice several comments above from people who apparently think that the 2nd Amendment was intended to protect the right to hunt and target shoot, and that anyone who mentions its true motivation — adduced by the founders who had just won a revolution against the mightiest military force on the planet by calling on colonials who showed up with their own guns — must be crazy. But the founders wanted to be sure that future American citizens could do it again if the need arose, which is why the 2nd Amendment refers to the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
And for those who scoff and say “It Can’t Happen Here” (an excellent book, by the way, from Sinclair Lewis; I recommend it) I offer these data, assembled and published in 1994 by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (motto: “Never Again”):
Genocides of the 20th Century
(Dates in parentheses are when gun-control laws were enacted.)
–Ottoman Turkey, 1915-1917 vs. Armenia, 1-1.5M casualties (1866, 1911)
–Soviet Union, 1929-1953, vs. anti-Communists and anti-Stalinists, 20M (1929)
–Nazi Germany+occ. Europe, 1933-1945, vs. Jews, Gypsies, Gays, and anti-Nazis, 13M (1928, 1938)
–China, 1949-1952, vs. anti-Communists, 20M (1935)
–China, 1966-1976, vs. pro-reformers, 15M (1935, 1957)
–Guatemala, 1960-1981, vs. Maya Indians, 100K (1871, 1964)
–Uganda, 1971-1979, vs. Christians and political rivals, 300K (1955, 1970)
–Cambodia, 1975-1979, vs. “intelligentsia”, 1M (1956)