Hey, lets be clear. I think the right to bear arms is essential to protect us from our own government too. I just think that Due process and Liberty outrank the single aspect of gun rights. However, I think you do entertain the cowboy fantasy. I think we all do. But it is essential that we understand that without due process, in these modern times, we are massively hopelessly outgunned as individuals. And you must realize the if they pick on you individually, all of your fellow gun rights advocates won't help you. This is what they will say:
You remember Alex?
Oh yeah, I remember Alex, he is that guy that got busted for having too much black powder in the reloading room. They said he was planning to build a bomb and plan a terrorist act.
Wow, he seemed normal, who would have guessed he was some kind of nut..................................
End of your story.
That is what can happen when we surrender all of our rights and trust the governement to do the right thing. And yes, it can happen to you.
Ok. As I understand it, your argument is that the right to fair trial and freedom from unreasonable detention is more essential than the right to bear arms. Thus, you feel that Obama is a better choice than McCain.
I disagree, and this is why:
So, Obama signs into law a bill that says we can have single shot pistols in out homes for home defense, and nothing more. Or shotguns, or whatever. He also gets rid of the Patriot act, provides free room and board for hippies, immigrants and the old and infirm. He gives everyone detained by the US military the right to a trial by a jury of americans. He makes the oil companies release the decades worth of technology they've been sitting on, and we become non dependent on foreign oil. The economy is great, everyone has enough food, and the US becomes a beacon of light and hope. With me so far?
Now Obama dies/resigns/serves his terms/whatever. He's finished being president. Terminally stupid, the Dems run Kerry again, and he loses to Jeb Bush. Ole Jeb longs for the days of yore, when Republicans roamed the land, raping old ladies and stomping kittens to death. He reinstates the patriot act, gives tax breaks to the rich, sets up detention facilities and begins wholesale execution of anyone that crosses him. Hundreds of thousands take to the streets in protest, and the tanks roll over them, just like Tianamen Square. Nobody has private arms, because even the single shots have been banned, for the children. What do we do? Now we've lost all of our rights, because The Lightbringer, hallowed be his name, has an old school Chicago fear of guns.
Sure do wish we had 80 million privately owned weapons, don't we? Sure would be a nice time for a good ole' "cowboy fantasy" of untraceable rifle shots aimed at prominent oppressors, huh? Too bad, it's the new dark ages, where the biggest and the strongest have their way.
The 2nd amendment guarantees all the others. If you don't think privately owned weapons in the hands of a determined populace with a knowledge of local terrain and supply depots among the people can cause hell for the oppressors, you haven't studied much history. Sure, might not be a winning tactic, and the feds might mow everyone down anyway. But isn't the chance to die like a man important? I certainly wouldn't want to get it execution style if I had the chance to take a few of my oppressors with me.