Give Me Liberty!
posted by on 07/22/10
Hillary Clinton got me thinking recently with a decision she made to support a legally binding international treaty to increase regulations on the gun trade. Just what do you think the Administration is up to now?
The disarming of American citizens can be achieved by controlling the distribution of firearms. The best way at the moment to get control of this distribution is through an international treaty that would bypass the legislative process (“government of the people, by the people, for the people”) and subjugate the American people to laws created by foreign nations. Would the American people comply with that kind of insanity? I don’t think so. Remember Virginia’s motto? It is “Thus always to tyrants” with Virtus armed and standing atop a dead tyrant. What if Virginians were to stick to that? What about the famous words of Patrick Henry? “Give me liberty or give me death!” What do you do with a law that makes a good thing illegal, while the law itself is Constitutionally illegal? Article 2 of the Bill of Rights states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Do Americans value freedom as much as those who have tried to live without it? Why did my grandpa put his life on the line in World War II? Talking about the right to load ammunition and bear arms is talking about the guarantee of a free country. If Mountaineers will always be free, mountaineers will have to be armed. That’s what the 2nd amendment is all about. If you love America, go here.
Let’s think this over. Why should anyone be labeled a criminal just because he owns a weapon? Why did God give horns and hooves to the buffalo, and stingers to the honey bees? What is wrong with parents protecting their families? Why would a government even want to make it difficult for its good, responsible and law abiding citizens to arm themselves? Does the government really think it can completely control all crime so that no one ever has to defend themselves? Do we want the government to have that kind of absolute control over everyone? If that means eliminating guns, it also means eliminating cooking utensils, rocks, and fingers. Anyone who truly favors fighting crime must favor the armed citizen. If we have a crime problem, what we need to ask is why people do not control themselves and respond correctly to difficult situations. So why would some people want Americans helpless? Are the American people entirely untrustworthy? Why should the government be afraid of an armed nation? This level of suffocating restraint without any regard to personal self-control is tyranny. For one thing, governmental force and secular education do not have the capacity to solve a crime problem. Furthermore, a law that banned weapons would only take weapons away from law abiding citizens, the very ones who should be armed. Every month the NRA reports many accounts of citizens properly using firearms to successfully protect their families. Does it seem to you that the TV news tends to only report the actions of lawless people using weapons in lawless ways? Is this by accident?
Mountaineers are always free; and we reckon to stay that way.
Never said it better, bro! never said it better!
Stick with it, Virginia; you’re motto says it best!
When did Jesus say it was ok to use potentially deadly force in protecting one’s property? DIdn’t he send the Apostles out with nothing in their pockets? Didn’t he say, “turn the other cheek?” Weren’t Jesus and many of the Apostles killed for their beliefs? Did Jesus tell Peter to pack a pistol to protect himself? I don’t know where Christians get this stuff.
Hi Billie, thanks for commenting.
I’d like to explain where I get this stuff.
First, I did not say that deadly force is a means of advancing Christ’s kingdom. (Jn. 18:36, 1 Cor. 1:18-21)
Where do you get from Scripture that using deadly force is a sin? Whatever is not of faith is sin. It was by faith that Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel etc. not only suffered torture and cruelty, but also subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises… waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens… (Heb. 11:32-40)
If a thief is breaking in at night and the resident kills him, God says the resident is not to be punished as a murderer (Ex. 22:2). You need to study the Hebrew word for “kill” in the 6th commandment.
It is right for a man to meet the needs of his family (1 Tim. 5:8), and I don’t see how that would not include protection.
A military is essential for a peaceful society. Abraham was not at fault in defeating the kings for the sake of his nephew. (Gen. 14) Melchizedek blessed him for what he did, and did not reprove him.
We never put our ultimate trust in weapons, but in the Lord. (Ps. 5:11, 7:1, 11:1, 17:7, 18:2, 20:7, etc.) Who recognized this more than David and yet who fought for his country more than David? Did he put a Nerf ball in his sling and apologise when it hit Goliath? It was God that preserved David everywhere he went and helped him against his deadly enemies. See also Psalm 144:1.
It’s important to understand what Jesus was saying about turning the other cheek. He was not nullifying the instructions given to judges on how to deliver just judgment. He was speaking of personal revenge-taking which, as we all know, becomes an endless cycle. When I am at fault I need to voluntarily pay more than my sentence requires so that I can gain the heart of the one I offended.
Yes I’m a Christian. That’s #1. I’m also an American. I’m also a family member. By spreading Christianity we aim to reduce and hopefully eliminate the need for deadly force. But guns are still good for other things like groundhogs or hunting. I’ve never had to use a gun against an attacker and hope I never do. Sometimes it’s better not to use one even if you have one. I do not delight in violence. I do delight in the freedoms that the founders of our country wisely preserved – and I hope everyone else does too.
If you lived in Detroit like I do, you might re-think your stand on gun control. I’ve had many a gun pointed at me, and my having a gun in my pocket wouldn’t have helped any…I just would have lost the gun. And, remember the crazy guy who shot up Fort Hood last year? Everyone there was carrying a gun, but it didn’t help…and it was a civilian who ended up shooting the gunman and ending the bloodshed. You can carry a gun if you want, and if you are qualified. I just don’t want crazy people or careless people or criminals to have guns. Or, are you in favor of crazy people and careless people and criminals having access to guns?
Hi Tim,
Yes, you’re right that crazy, careless criminals will use things in crazy, careless, criminal ways. Of course, the problem is not what they are using. I’m glad you recognize that people should be able to use things if they want to and are qualified. But if an oppressor has enough power, he can make the “qualifications” ridiculous. You’re also right that having a gun is not necessarily going to help in many cases. Detroit sounds like a sad place. IF Detroit would be better off with some kind of gun ban until its real problems can be dealt with, at least they don’t have to inflict the whole State with it, let alone the whole nation!!!!!!! Going to the wrong place for solutions to our problems can be as bad or worse than the problems.
Wow, how neat to read about all of this! I’ve just been reading Winston Churchill’s book, Their Finest Hour, about the months when the British nation was under direct attack by Nazi Germany. Under the threat of invasion, the British government was scrambling for weapons–not only to arm its military, but also its civilian population. Practically every British subject was prepared to personally contest Hitler’s attempt to subjugate the island. Even the King had a shooting range built in the gardens at Buckingham Palace at which the Royal family practised.