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jlf1961 -> RE: The 2nd Amendment (6/24/2008 6:06:56 PM)
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ORIGINAL: Vaughner
Also the National Guard is not a Militia
The militia in the time of the Constitution's writing was every able-bodied male between the ages of 17 and 45. The National Guard is a military reserve operated by the States, for the purpose of law enforcement, emergency and home defense. Now there is some overlap but what differentiates the two? The National Guard is at the disposal of the President to be regularized into military service and deployed out of the country. A militia is a home gaurd force of local citizens.
Actually, it takes congressional action to release the National Guard to the President, until then it is under the direct control of the Governor of the state. This came about during the early days of the civil war, there was no legal way for state sponsered units to be placed under the command of the united states army or the President of the United States.
Following that, there is still, in many states, an unpaid militia, using weapons they supply, as well as equipment. Again, these units are under the control of the state governor.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Vaughner
It also annoys me all of the coversations about .50 caliber firearms. The most common ones out there are the .50BMG, .50AE, and .500 S&W Magnum. The most well known of these would likely be the .50AE as its principle firearm the Desert Eagle is commonly used it hollywood. Why? Because it looks mean and sounds loud. The problem is a Desert Eagle is about a foot long, is very heavy, and has recoil that nothing short of an experienced shooter can handle. These firearms are not used in crime because of their weight, their impossibility to conceal, and their difficulty to control. There is a lot of talk and fear about the .50BMG being able to be used to take down aircraft. Pardon my French but that is Bullshit. If a .50BMG was sufficient to take out an aircraft, all modern military aircraft like the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Falcon, F/A-18 Eagle, F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning-II, AV-8B Harrier, EuroFighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, Su-27, Su-30, Su-33, Su-34, and Su-35 would carry a .50BMG machine gun. But they don't all of them carry guns in the size of 20-30mm. A 50 caliber bullet simply doesn't have the energy to disable an aircraft even if it hits hydrolics as modern aircraft have multiple redundency in these systems. What about the fact a .50BMG can hit a target a mile away? Yeah it can do that, so can a .300 Winchester Magnum a very common hunting round. If a marksman has the skill to do it with one he can likely do it with another and the WinMag has the advantages of cost, weight, and portability.quote:
The 12.7 or 50cal round is still an effective anti aircraft round when dealing with aircraft flying ground support ops. Considering the aircraft has to make a straight in approach to the target, an effective screen can be created.
However, if the aircraft is making a high speed run at altitude, kiss your but good bye.
The primary reason for the change from the 50 to the 20mm and 40mm cannon now mounted on fighters was in response to the need of aircraft flying close support to have the firepower to deal with hardened targets.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Vaughner
To often people forget that what they see in the media is not bound by the contraints of reality. Anyone ever seen Terminator-2? Remember the scene when Arnold is firing the large minigun down on the cops? Why has this never happened in real life? Because a minigun is heavy, the one used in T2 is the exact same one used by Jessie Ventura in Predator. It takes men of that size to heft such a firearm to begin with. Second when firing actual rounds instead of blanks, the recoil is so intense a person trying to shoot it would literally be spun in circles by it. And three the gun is electrically operated. Arnold doesn't move during this scene because he has a powercable running down his leg out of his pants and back to a pile of car batteries. Why do I bring this up? Media is not bound by reality, and this is a perfect example. And to many of those who speak on this subject have too little knowledge of what they are actually talking about.quote:
Anyone who thinks that someone can stand and fire a hand held minigun is in dire need of a wakeup call.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Vaughner
And for someone who wanted justification on the rational I quote Thomas Jefferson
"We must train and classify the whole of our male citizens, and make military instruction a regular part of collegiate education. We can never be safe till this is done."
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
"The Beauty of the 2nd Amendment is that it will be most needed when an attempt is made to take it."
To quote George Mason
"...to disarm the people - that was the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
The final problem I wan't to address is the idea of gun registration. Its not a bad idea on its face but the problem is every time it has been brought forth it has lead to eventual confiscation of firearms.
"This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!" -Adolph Hitler; 1938 (not 1935 as if often quoted)
Every tyrannical government that has ever set has first diarmed the populace. Hitler, Stalin/Lennin/Hussein. But it goes much further back. Anyone ever seen Braveheart? "The English won't let us train with weapons, so we train with stones." This is an accurate quote.
The problem with registration is that any time it has been practiced it preceeds confiscation.
I'll digress now that everyone reading this probably thinks I'm a NRA Gun Nut (not a member, and just well educated). America was always meant to be a self-reliant nation. Ensuring that the common man was armed was a tennent of this goal. Sadly somewhere along the way much of America has forgotten how to be self-reliant. So no matter how many good points are made this is an issue that won't go away for some time.
Now I'm not saying that we have an immediate threat of the US Government becoming corrupt, but it doesn't hurt to be prepaired.
I'm not saying I lay awake worrying if someone will break into my home. But I know the Police Station is 10 minutes away, my pistol is about 8 seconds away.
The 2nd amendment protects the right of indivual citizens, even its location in the document is evidence of this. The amendments outline the rights of the populace, those things which outline on the powers of the government at federal and state level are spelled out in other portions of the Constitution.
I'm rambling now so I'll close for the time being.
Once the word is announced that the government is planning on declaring martial law, I for one will be disappearing so fast my dust will be the only trace. There is a wonderful thing about very old jeep cj's, in floor storage. Most people today have completely forgotten about that old standard.
I admit I am a survivalist. I have a jeep loaded with three weeks of MRE's, water purification tablets, double jerry can mounts, one with two 10 gallon jerry cans of gas, the other with two ten gallon jerry cans of water. In the back seat storage is a total of 800 rounds of ammo, 200 each of .45, 7.56mm, 12 guage buck and finally 12 guage deer slugs.
I have the following in a grab bag by the door, an M1A with scope, a remington 12 guage security special, and next to my bed is a 1911 colt pistol. I also own a 120 pound draw crossbow. Everything is ready for a quick load up of the jeep and a bug out.
You see, the 2nd amendment gives me the right to own weapons. The phrase, "the tree of liberty must sometimes be watered with the blood of patriots." as well as Thomas Jefferson stating, "Any time a government becomes to oppressive it is the sacred duty of the people to stand up against that oppression."
The founding fathers foresaw the possibility of the government they created becoming corrupt and a danger to the people, and they made every possible attempt to keep the power in the hands of the people.
Some people would call me a fanatic, or homegrown terrorist, but the truth is there are more people like me out there than there are people willing to do nothing.
When they take away the 2nd amendment, the rest are not far behind.
When they took away the right to own guns, I said nothing because I did not own a gun.
When they took away the right to speak freely I did nothing because there was nothing I could do.
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