Author and economist Walter Williams told The Daily Caller that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect Americans from their own government — not simply to ensure hunting rights.
Williams, a syndicated columnist and the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, suggested that common misconceptions about the Second Amendment undermine the gun control debate.
“[The Founding Fathers'] stated reason was to allow the American people to protect themselves from the United States Congress — that is, government. That’s why we have the Second Amendment,” he said.
“A lot of people are saying we should somehow control or restrict arms,” he continued. “And I would ask the question: Are we under any less a threat of tyranny from Washington than we were in 1787? And I would say no.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/13/w...-point-of-the-second-amendment/#ixzz2HyGdir4W
Walter Williams: Americans misunderstand point of the Second Amendment
Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by Revmitchell, Jan 14, 2013.
-
Revmitchell Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
-
If people remembered the historical and cultural context that our founding documents were written in there would be no real debate over the 2nd Amendment. Hunting and sport are side benefits. Indeed the real purpose is to allow citizens to protect themselves from a tyrannical government.
It truly is the one right that defends all the others. Remove this right and the government has nothing to fear and therefore nothing to keep it in check. -
I suppose it is asking too much, but if Americans would do just a little reading they might be disabused of many of their errors.
The second amendment debate is not new. I has been going on since 1790. When the two parties got together to debate whether we should ratify the Constitution or stay with the Articles of Confederation James Madison, who favored the Articles of Confederation but later changed his mind and wrote, for the most part, most of the Constitution, wrote a series of articles called "The Federalist Papers." The Federalist #46 is very enlightening. I suggest every US citizen read it, study it, and take it to heart. Madison understood the dangers inherent in the new Constitution. The Bill or Rights, again, compiled by Madison, was put in place to help minimize those dangers. Madison writes quite eloquently on the subject in "The Federalist #46" which can be found here: http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa46.htm -
-
-
Do/did your children mind you as well as you did your parents and did your your parents mind their parents as well as they did with theirs. Did we learn to live for Christ as well as our parents or not, how about our children. I blame so much on my generation because some of us and our children and grandchildren seem to rather argue more than get along and we and ours know more about everything than anyone at anytime. -
My boys are generally very respectful and obedient. That is not to say they are perfect. LOL My bride and I are just very big on proper behavior and hold them accountable. I admit, being imperfect myself, that I have a tendency to be too strict at times.
I see too many parents not even willing to discipline their kids. It's no wonder we, as a culture, have such an immoral society. There is very few that seem to be willing to say that there is an objective standard of behavior. In large part this is due to our (culturally) redefined and subjective ideas of God. If you can explain away an objective God you can explain away an objective standard of right and wrong. -
Would you agree that the majority are in the first group and thus will accept, without question, the opinions voiced by the second as being truth? -
I can’t disagree with Walter at all, the 2nd amendment was intended to protect us from a government that became oppressive.
The problem is that 70 years after it was ratified a group of Americans tried to do just that. They found the federal government oppressive and tried to separate from it. In many ways the 2nd amendment has been a moot point since 1865. -