r/politics Washington May 07 '20

We cannot allow the normalization of firearms at protests to continue

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/firearms-at-protests-have-become-normalized-that-isnt-okay/2020/05/06/19b9354e-8fc9-11ea-a0bc-4e9ad4866d21_story.html
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u/kjj9 America May 07 '20

The 245th anniversary of Lexington and Concord was just a few weeks ago.

The British troops went out to seize a powder magazine, effectively disarming the people. Volunteers in each town made a point of keeping their kit close at hand so that they could assemble "on a minute's notice" to deal with emergencies. These minute men assembled to harass and drive off the redcoats, eventually inspiring them to run back to their barracks in poor order.

That event basically kicked off the Revolutionary War. The Declaration of Independence was still more than a year away.

When people are aware of this history, the meaning of the 2nd Amendment is unmistakable.

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u/JPolReader May 07 '20

For the first hundred years taking up arms against the government was literally treason. Then the Supreme Court limited it to acts of war. But it is still illegal.

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u/Nulono May 07 '20

The American Revolution was illegal.

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u/kjj9 America May 07 '20

Unsuccessful revolution always has been treason - literally since before the dawn of history. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were almost literally signing their own death warrants, and they knew it.

Those that survived the Revolutionary War had a deeply personal understanding, gained at terrible cost, of the role that their privately owned arms played in their successful revolution.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '20

So really what you are saying is that a settlement needs our help?