By Michael C.
I was having breakfast with some friends recently when the conversation turned to the subject of arming school teachers. One friend asked, “Since when are we an armed society?” To which I responded, “Since 1776.” I’ve since wondered how its possible he isn’t aware that our society is an armed society . . .
If we weren’t an armed society, we would still be subjects of the British Crown, not citizens of the United States. If we weren’t an armed society, I could very well be typing this in German or Japanese. If one wants to see what an unarmed society looks like, take a look at Mexico where the cartels are heavily armed and practically control the country despite very restrictive gun control laws.
Another example of what an unarmed society looks like is the recent disgusting attack on a British soldier by two men armed with knives. Several bystanders did nothing to assist the victim, and actually filmed one of the murderers as he ranted on why he committed the heinous act. Think about that for a moment, several people were kept at bay and watched a murder committed in broad daylight by two men with knives. The bystanders were helpless because they were unarmed, plain and simple.
We see it here at home in “gun free” zones, along with cities and states that are restrictive on gun ownership and conceal carry. The proof is all around us that the 2nd Amendment is essential to a free and peaceful society, and that we can never rely on any government — federal, state, or local — to protect us. So I proudly say yes, we are an armed society, and if we want to remain free we must remain that way.
well said
The date on our being an armed society is actually much earlier. The first settlers were armed. This going back to the 1600’s. If you look at the original people here, they were armed also, albiet with clubs and spears, but armed none the less. Hence WE have always been armed. Our incursion into the wilds of North America demanded that we be armed. Whether it be for the gathering of food, or self defence.
Had it not been for firearms, we would not have taken the land from the indegenious people that already lived here. A book that should be read is the one Chris Kyle wrote. AMERICAN GUNS is a look at what a U.S. Navy Seal considers to be important to the development of both this country, and our society. I just picked it up last night, and have already gone through the first chapter on the Long Rifle. Easy read filled with historical information.
You beat me to it.
Well, since club control isn’t at issue here (or anywhere I’m aware of), I think we should stick to the era of firearms. You should feed free to lobby RF to start up THE TRUTH ABOUT CLUBS; good luck with that!
But, hey, Robert. I’ve been wishing there was THE TRUTH ABOUT CIGARS. I’d spend a bunch of time at such a place.
Nice article. I guess Home Depot is anti-anti gunners?
I would say April 19th, 1775 but otherwise nice job.
Heck, the only way to answer the question “when did we become an armed society?” is with another question: “When did we become a society?” Since arms are inclusive of more than just firearms, the settlers on the Mayflower, the explorers on the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria were armed. The Native Americans who were here long before, were armed. So arms on this continent likely predates most, if not all, examples of a American society.
Good entry!
If you want to explore this further, check out Clayton Cramer’s book, Armed America.
I was reading an article from The Gun Feed where the author argued exactly the opposite point. He argued that Americans weren’t armed, and that states had passed restrictive gun control laws during our early history in the 17 and 1800s. He also pointed out some chief justice or another said our 2A rights were the greatest fraud perpetuated on the American people since, oh, I don’t know, the separation of church and state?
I’m not pointing this out because I agree with this stuff, but this is the kind of information the sheeple feed off of, and these misinformed intelligent people have a huge soap box now on which to stand.
and the fight continues….
That author’s an idiot and Robert Bork was an amoral majoritarian who thankfully never became a Supreme Court justice.
The fraud is in how those that wish to rewrite meanings have re-interpreted things like “separation of church and State” and the 2nd Amendment in general, in comparison to what the founding fathers intended. The separation of church and State mentioned in the 1st Amendment was to keep the government out of the religious business… not to keep religion out of government. It was to keep the government from mandating a State sanctioned religion like the crown did. England basically kicked Catholicism in the teeth and yanked church leadership out of Rome and into the hands and power of the Crown. Thus mandating any and all worship and religious practice to be done under the authority and permission of the crown only: squishing all other religions, and promoting the crown’s version.
That author was either misinformed/badly educated, or an outright liar.
Very well said. I always link it back to the Latin phrase, “Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum”
A firearm is a tool. Pure, plain and simple. As such when my ancestors (the first primates) first starting using objects found in nature as tools we had our first weapons and thus armed. That ox shoulder blade is great for digging holes as well as cleaving skulls of the enemy. But for my Bible believing brethren (I’m a believer too, BTW) let me remind them all Isaiah 2:4 has a time and place and at other times we need Joel 3:10 but either way we are an armed society. Whether these tools are swords and plowshares or spears and pruninghooks or 1911s, AR15s, AK47s, 870s, and etc. we have been an armed society for a long, long time.
You’re a believer and choose not to believe the story of creation offered in the book of Genesis? Do you pick and choose what to believe and throw away the rest of the Bible?
I honestly wonder if anyone had been armed when the British soldier was murdered…would they have helped him? It’s not only about being armed, its of being in the mindset that you will not allow evil to triumph, or even go forward unopposed. Not only Great Britan, but even here in the USA: people are self obsessed…worried about the Kardashians or the next American Idol or a new iOS coming out. Just the fact that people stood around and watched while that went down…sickens me a bit.
In comparing the US to the UK you can contrast armed and unarmed, but it is ignorant to claim that we’re overall safer from that difference. The murder rate in the UK last year was 1.2 per 1,000. In the US it was 4.8, 4X that of a far less armed society. There are far more factors that simply the presence of guns that go into making a society safer from crime.
Not to mention that based on 2010 UN crime statistics the total violent crime rate in the UK is five times that of the US.
Total violent crimes for the two are similar, but we have five times their population. The UK rate was 2,034 per 100,000 while in the US it was 406. There is exactly where their great and glorious gun control has taken them and the gun grabbers want us to follow.
Could you put a space between the hyphen and An in the title? I was looking for some play on words and got confused.
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