Looking at Sven's original question:
Post: Are Americans any different?
I have recently been watching a fair few pro-gun films and debates on you tube.
[Sven, you can find just about any NUT on YouTube, doesn't mean they're making valid arguments.]
Most of them have this view: The Australian and British gun owners 'gave up' and that Americans would NEVER surrender their firearms.
The constant opinion voiced by American gun owners is that they would die rather than be disarmed.
Is this really true? If the US government banned semi auto long guns or all pistols tomorrow how many citizens would put their money where their mouth is?
[I am sure there would be a heck of al ot more who would than would not, honestly. The entire Second Amendment is there to protect American citizens from THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT. The entire Constitution constrains the power of government, the second amendment provides the mechanism to re-right the balance if government oversteps its Constitutional bounds.]
We Brits and Australians tried to protest but were ignored,I know there are some Americans who would have it end in a seige (waco shows this) but would the average law abiding gun owner in the US throw away everything (job,family,liberty or even life) to prove a point or would they comply with the law even though they disagreed with it because they ARE law abiding?
[I honestly think that there are plenty, plenty who would actively fight a law that is that unconstitutional.]
I hope they would.As much as I want you guys to keep your freedoms,especially that of being armed I would hate to see numerous instances of law abiding family men(and women) becoming criminals and being locked away or worse.
[Our founding fathers sacrificed EVERYTHING to provide us with the chance to establish, and keep, a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. Many, many Americans, especially people who own firearms, take that commitment VERY seriously, and I could see a lot of folks following in the steps of the Founding Fathers to renew that commitment, even if it meant sacrificing everything they have.]
So if you are a US citizen. What would you really do if you had 24hours to surrender your weapons?
[Pass.]
I would like to know so I can decide whether all these 'from my dead hands' statements are just an emphasis of a peoples belief in something or whether common folk are latently suicidal and would throw away everything just because they have a bad government.
[I think the prime difference is the relationship Americans have with their government compared to Britain or Australia. See above statements for clarification. I think the proof is in the pudding, but the Second Amendment is so clear and such a cornerstone of the Republic that we will not see that occur. The fact that it has not shows not a temerity on the part of the government, but a reflection of that basic social compact.]
Post: Are Americans any different?
I have recently been watching a fair few pro-gun films and debates on you tube.
[Sven, you can find just about any NUT on YouTube, doesn't mean they're making valid arguments.]
Most of them have this view: The Australian and British gun owners 'gave up' and that Americans would NEVER surrender their firearms.
The constant opinion voiced by American gun owners is that they would die rather than be disarmed.
Is this really true? If the US government banned semi auto long guns or all pistols tomorrow how many citizens would put their money where their mouth is?
[I am sure there would be a heck of al ot more who would than would not, honestly. The entire Second Amendment is there to protect American citizens from THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT. The entire Constitution constrains the power of government, the second amendment provides the mechanism to re-right the balance if government oversteps its Constitutional bounds.]
We Brits and Australians tried to protest but were ignored,I know there are some Americans who would have it end in a seige (waco shows this) but would the average law abiding gun owner in the US throw away everything (job,family,liberty or even life) to prove a point or would they comply with the law even though they disagreed with it because they ARE law abiding?
[I honestly think that there are plenty, plenty who would actively fight a law that is that unconstitutional.]
I hope they would.As much as I want you guys to keep your freedoms,especially that of being armed I would hate to see numerous instances of law abiding family men(and women) becoming criminals and being locked away or worse.
[Our founding fathers sacrificed EVERYTHING to provide us with the chance to establish, and keep, a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. Many, many Americans, especially people who own firearms, take that commitment VERY seriously, and I could see a lot of folks following in the steps of the Founding Fathers to renew that commitment, even if it meant sacrificing everything they have.]
So if you are a US citizen. What would you really do if you had 24hours to surrender your weapons?
[Pass.]
I would like to know so I can decide whether all these 'from my dead hands' statements are just an emphasis of a peoples belief in something or whether common folk are latently suicidal and would throw away everything just because they have a bad government.
[I think the prime difference is the relationship Americans have with their government compared to Britain or Australia. See above statements for clarification. I think the proof is in the pudding, but the Second Amendment is so clear and such a cornerstone of the Republic that we will not see that occur. The fact that it has not shows not a temerity on the part of the government, but a reflection of that basic social compact.]