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Originally Posted by kirpi97
But was the case back in 1778? There was no real US Military, no Federal Agency protecting Americans. And the State Militias were not all that well organized. So what was it that held this country together?
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Good question! I think what held this country together was a dream that we have only recently (last 100 years) fully realized. However, the militias were a part of that and served a great purpose for our young country (even though George Washington did not like them
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Where I part company with some is that the an armed citizenry does not guarantee or really protect those freedoms today. When they further argue that we need to have military weapons such as machineguns and grenades in order to be able to fight our own military, I jump off that boat.
I am reminded of post Katrina when Mayor Nagin illegally and unconstitutionally confiscated property (firearms) from law-abiding citizens. The fact that those citizens were armed did not stop him from acting as a tyrant, but a court order filed by the NRA did. And a lawsuit made him give them back. Nixon gave up the tapes when the courts told him to and not when armed citizens stormed the White House. Cuba, never learned that and today they are not free.
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Originally Posted by Webleymkv
Thusly, the government will be far less likely to become tyrannical if it fears that an armed population may not be willing to comply with such tyranny...China seems quite secure as did the Soviet Union for most of its history but neither nation's population was (or in the case of China is) free.
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True indeed Webley, just being secure isn't enough but having guns doesn't do it either.
Look at Somalia or many other third world countries. Plenty of arms, and I mean the good stuff (machineguns, rocket launchers) that you and I have debated over
but are they free? I have been to some of those places and I assure you they are not. They live short brutish lives but they are well armed.
See, arms alone won't make you free either. Rule of law that the people will support does the job. I teach an ethics course to a group of LEOs from time to time. I tell them that what really keeps them safe on the street is that 99.999% of our population respects the rule of law and so the thin blue line holds. If that respect and support were not there then it would be Dodge City for sure.