.The Gun IS Civilization

Common Sense Commentary: Logic and Reason only convince logical and reasonable, civilized people. The uncivilized must be dealt with on terms they understand... force. RB

 

"Then said he (Jesus) unto them, But now,... he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one." Luke 22:36.

"The said constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." -- Samuel Adams, signer of the U.S.Constitution.

"The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." -- Thomas Jefferson, designer & signer of the U.S. Constitution.


It has become very obvious that the illogical, Liberal, anti-gun fanatics, in our country, are rallying all their forces.... media, politicians, Hollywood and naive supporters, to violate the second amendment of our U.S.Constitution, and disarm all of the law-abiding, gun owning citizens in the U.S. Nobody believes that the thieves, muggers, murderers and drug pushers will turn in their weapons. The following is the most thoughtful and accurate argument, for "The right to bear arms", I have ever read. It was written by Major L. Caudill USMC (Retired). This is a clear thinking Marine.

"The Gun IS Civilization"
Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another; reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force, Every human interaction, falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is, the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on an equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society. But, a firearm makes it easier for an armed mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat - It has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.

People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force, watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier, works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply would not work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.


When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation ... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

By Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Retired)

 

 

Let’s see here, between tobacco and alcohol, there are 636,000 deaths per year, or 55 times as many as with firearms. Motor vehicles are 3 times as many as firearms. Seems to me we need to have special licenses for smokes and booze, with classes required, and background checks. Given the ratio, that should occur at least every year, as firearms licenses need to be renewed every 5 years, with immediate revocation upon the occurrence of any incident. Cars could be lengthened to 18 months, with the same revocation policy.

BTW, this data comes from our Federal Gov't - the FBI and Center for Disease Control, and they’re the ones promoting getting rid of firearms, to protect the public.