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61


L. Neil Smith's
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 61, December 15, 1999
Happy Bill of Rights Day!

The Right to Bear Arms is a Matter of Life and Death

by Andrew Muriithi
[email protected]

Special to TLE

           Cut to the chase! This ought to be the stock refrain in all arguments regarding gun control. Cut to the chase! In other words, I don't want to hear about studies, statistics or listen to a loquacious exposition on the intent of the Second Amendment. I just want to know one thing: Do I as a human being have an immutable natural right to defend myself at all times and in all circumstances against all such individuals as may threaten my life and property? No, please don't tell me about the Constitution or the Founding Fathers. Don't tell me about the Columbine massacre, Buford Furrows or gun suicides. I want to know now: Do I have the right to defend myself and my property always? Do I have the right to defend myself using weapons sufficiently equal to or superior than those of my aggressor to assure myself the chance to live tomorrow? Cut to the chase! Yes or no? No equivocations. Is my right to use these weapons separable from my natural right to freely exist and to assure my survival tomorrow?
           Let's cut deeper into the chase! Am I morally obligated to observe a law or ordinance that likely threatens my survival tomorrow? Does my obligation to obey supersede my right to live? If I am not living, can I obey? Which comes first, life or obedience? If my federal, state or city government bans or limits my freedom to own and carry any type of weapon I choose, does it limit my right to freely live? Does it leave me vulnerable, malleable, compliant, and likely to die as a result? Am I obligated to observe the ban or limit if I may likely die as a result? Cut to the chase!
           Is my natural right to freely live absolute? Is it independently existent? If the Founding Fathers hadn't the prescient wisdom to enunciate this right in the Constitution, would it still exist? If the Second Amendment was repealed by the requisite 37 states today, would my right to bear arms disappear?
           If there is a lesson that defenders of gun rights haven't quite learned, it is to ask these straightforward questions. Historical and statistical support can only serve to embellish the answers to them. But let's cut to the chase! No matter its appearance on the surface, the objective of gun controllers is not about the empirics of gun control. Those matter little. Gun control is about emasculating you of your right to life. That's what the chase cuts to--to be rid of your natural right to freely live; to become vulnerable, malleable, compliant; to likely die as a result. That is why the right to bear arms is a matter of life and death. Yes! Forget about all the statistical fog. Forget about the true American way. The thug--be he the one who works privately or the one who works for the government--couldn't care less about statistics or the Second Amendment. His intent is to trample underfoot your right to freely live; to leave you vulnerable, malleable, compliant; to likely kill you in the process.
           That, my friend, is cutting to the chase. So next time someone blows hot air in your face about the need to get rid of guns, demand that they cut to the chase! Give them a fixed stare right in their eyes and tell them that they want to see you die. And don't waste your time launching into statistics or the Second Amendment. It's a matter of life and death.


BEN FRANKLIN STILL SPINNING IN GRAVE

"The Second Amendment provides for the right to bear arms, but the right for the rest of us to be safe from guns in the wrong hands is more important," West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci said.
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Source: http://www.boston.com/dailynews/339/region/New%5Fgun%5Fseizure%5Flaw%5Fused%5Fseven:.shtml


QUICKDRAW MAGAW

John Magaw's (Director, BATF) has been picked to "plan and coordinate FEMA's domestic terrorism efforts" for the FEMA Director's office.

I'll sleep better nights.
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Source: http://www.fema.gov/nwz99/99346.htm


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