Quote:
Originally Posted by jsarno
While I agree, it is a good post...don't you agree that from 1776 to the when the first person started wanting gun control (I'll say 1929), that the country would have stopped all those people from owning guns? Are we so arrogant as to think that our society should change was has been generally accepted for over a century, and what this country was founded on? Why is it we seem to think we're better than what the ideals of the country stated?
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The founders were also okay with slavery, not letting women or men without property vote and, BTW, they were none to keen on that whole "standing army" thing. Are we arrogant to think those things are wrong?
The men of 1776 were radicals in there day b/c they refused to accept what they saw as Britain's betrayal of its own principles. We would be betraying them if we didn't look past the words and into the purpose.
As time goes by and society changes, the standards and realities of life change. In 1776, they didn't have automatic weapons or cities with multi-million populations.
Also, let's be clear - the "ideal" protected by the concept of "right to bear and keep arms" was protecting the citizenry from government's monopoly of power. In light of the events of their recent history, the founder's were concerned with the imposition of tyranny by a government and the citizenries inability to respond. Lexington and Concord occurred b/c the Brits were going to seize the public arsenal not b/c they were taking people's personal weapons(Hmmmm, last I checked, there isn't a "public arsenal" in Baltimore - well, except for a couple of street corners but that's just 'cause the clientele is armed to the teeth). While I respect this ideal, the world has changed significantly, and the specific threat that the 2A was intended to protect against does not exist in the same manner as it did two hundred years ago.
BTW - gun control didn't start in the 20 century. It existed from the beginning of this country and was prominent in the "Wild West". Many towns had strict gun contro (a' la "The Unforgiven"). Many towns were much more lax and the specific regulations varied from town to town but whoa unto you if you violated the local gun regs.
It is not arrogant to re-examine our governing principles, it is essential to do so. Otherwise, we end up like the arabian culture of the 17th and 18th centuries - A once progressive culture that was a beacon of human ingenuity, art and science that refused to reexamine itself and ended up betraying the very tenets it was founded upon.
It is not arrogant to reexamine our founding fathers actions, it is essential to uphold their ideals.
BTW - anybody see where I left my glock?