Owning and carrying guns- a right that is still right for today
This morning a panelist on a Fox news discussion said "Just because some old men in knickers 200 years ago said we could bear arms doesn't mean it's right for today".
And just because someone a few hundred years ago said gravity causes things to fall to the ground doesn't mean things still fall. But they do. An observation of a pre-existing condition doesn't cause the condition. Nor does a denial of the condition invalidate it in any way.
But he's right in a way he probably wasn't smart enough to understand. "Just because some old men in knickers 200 years ago said", and wrote, that they recognized that the right to own and to carry weapons was inherent in being human "doesn't mean" it is right for today. Their opinions have no bearing on it at all. That is fortunate, since opinions are always subject to change.
Before the first human was human, the right to use weapons was already fully formed. It doesn't matter if those weapons are a body part or something carried in the hand. Horns, fangs, venom, claws, sticks, stones, knives, spears, arrows, guns- it isn't the tool that is important; it is the absolute right to defend your life, liberty, and property. No other creature would ever even question that fundamental fact of life. It is, and should always be, recognized as a given; a necessary condition of life.
A gun is not good or bad; it is the context. If a bad guy is holding a gun on me I am not stupid enough to blame the gun- I blame the thug holding it. If he was holding a knife or a stone or a "law" he would still be just as bad. No matter what tool he is holding, I want the best, most effective tool available to me to defend myself from his aggression. I want the same for you. At this point in history, that tool is a gun. It is still right for today. It will still be right 200 years from now. Or even a million years from now when guns as we know them might seem quaint.
The right is, and always will be, a right, even as the tools for exercising that right progress. The opinions of people 200 years ago, or today, have no bearing on that right; only on whether the right is respected or violated. I choose to respect it.
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Once again, remember that New Mexico is a "Gold Star" open carry state and that even cities like Albuquerque have no authority to forbid the open carry of guns. Of course, they don't have the authority to regulate the concealed carry of guns, either, but they do lie about that one, and so far have gotten away with it.
