by Laurenc Devita

Created on: November 29, 2008

I consider the right to keep and bear arms a fundamental right which protects all other rights. I believe, as Thomas Jefferson did, that citizens need to own guns not only to repel aggressors, but to preserve their freedoms against government, which is forever trying to increase its power.

Thomas Jefferson said many things in public that I am afraid to say in the age of the "patriot" act, (which has clearly made it more dangerous to actually be a patriot). I'll quote Jefferson, who is beyond to reach of Homeland Security:

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

"For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security."

"What country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."

"The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it."

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

I support liberal causes when they protect personal liberty, and often my liberal friends wonder at my "backwards" view of the Second Amendment, as they generally favor gun prohibition. I've noticed one thing in common among friends who believe gun ownership should be curtailed: they don't believe that they can or should defend themselves. They honestly believe that calling a cop is better and safer than owning a gun, and that not owning a gun somehow makes a person more pro-social'. The thought of banding together with other common citizens to turn back an oppressive government is simply beyond their worldview, one might as well arm rabbits against dogs.

These friends tend to pose the "guns are allowed" discussion around guns that can be used for hunting or target shooting, what they consider to be the only historical and legitimate reasons for firearm ownership. Most importantly, they tend to frame the "guns are dangerous" portion of the argument on their fear of criminals. This is why criminals don't fear them.

These two points frame the discussion between the gentile uses of firearms on one side, and the issue of crime on the other. The main reason for the right to keep arms is missing; almost never is Thomas Jefferson's argument put forward, that "When governments fear

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