The 2nd Amendment

Recently, I've been finding it difficult to explain to family and friends why I support the 2nd Amendment and our individual right to bear arms. My parents, two of the most loving and supportive people I know, always promoted pacifism and raised their children to understand that guns are bad and completely unnecessary. It is easy to see, then, that explaining my position to my siblings and parents can be a real challenge. To be honest, it wasn't until a few months ago that I made an effort to learn more about the 2nd Amendment. For a long time, I simply assumed my parents were right and didn't give the whole gun issue much thought. I assumed that firearms are in fact bad and I even supported gun control legislation in certain cases. But the problem with my stance was that I, like many people, never took the time to learn why our Founding Fathers gave us that particular right in the first place.

For those who don't know, Amendment II clearly states:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

In my experience, people tend to think that those who support individual gun ownership are looking for trouble. Many jump to the unfair conclusion that gun owners are inviting violence into their homes and will inevitably fail to use their weapon responsibly. But is it ridiculous to think that those fulfilling their Constitutional right have recognized a potential threat and have taken action to protect themselves and their families if necessary? I don't think so. And I do not believe it is irrational to believe that such a potential threat exists. After all, our Founding Fathers warned us long ago. One of the most important things to recognize, and something that people often fail to consider, is that the threat I speak of could come not only from our neighbor, but from our own government. After all, peaceful and democratic societies have fallen into the hands of tyranny throughout history. And this has been done, in part, by leaders disarming the people in order to make it impossible for innocent citizens to defend themselves. Alex Jones helps put things in perspective when he explains that "guns are here to defend us from the overwhelming force of government...of the Hitler, of the Stalin, of the Mao. And dictators throughout history have sought to disarm their quarry, to disarm their slaves."

Check out this video to learn more:

Video courtesy of YouTube user "balzahK".