an armed populace is a free populace
Results 1 to 20 of 324
Should civilians be allowed to have firearms?
Please present:
Reasons why they should.
Reasons why they shouldn't.
Reasons you don't care.
an armed populace is a free populace
'heavens above, how awful it is to live outside the law - one is always expecting what one rightly deserves.'
petronius, the satyricon
They should be allowed to have arms but should be taught fire arm safety. If the only people allowed to have firearms are the government then how can we defend ourselves in a time of need.
Isn't it dangerous? I mean, gun crimes are quite high in the U.S....
And when we're pissed off we tend to act on emotion.
Of course. Civilians should be allowed firearms ESPECIALLY outside of an anarchist/communist society. Perhaps when anarchy/communism is achieved firearms shouldn't be that necessary since a classless and stateless has been achieved but certainly owning guns is absolutely necessary under capitalism. While guns don't necessarily bring about revolution they offer a certain degree of protection from its most intolerable abuses. The Black Panthers are a good example of how guns can be used for progressive purposes.
“How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?” Charles Bukowski, Factotum
"In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining... We demand this fraud be stopped." MLK
-fka Redbrother
I would say that is a problem, but that its not so much related to guns but to capitalism itself and the fact that we have this individualist/isolated mentality about here.
“How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?” Charles Bukowski, Factotum
"In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining... We demand this fraud be stopped." MLK
-fka Redbrother
Most of the gun crimes in the USA are a result of gang wars which are of course a product of capitalism driving people to extremes just to survive.
cars kill more people than guns
'heavens above, how awful it is to live outside the law - one is always expecting what one rightly deserves.'
petronius, the satyricon
Cars are necessary, more people have cars than guns, and cars are actually useful in any situation.
That's a terrible argument.
Again it's something of a double edged sword.
While I do agree to some extent that firearms can contribute to a freer society, and equip the masses with the ability to defend itself against oppression, they can also be used for crime but if more people (non-criminals) were armed, perhaps there might be an increased deterrent to violent crime.
With technology what it is today, I would favour less-than-lethal alternatives becoming the choice for self-defence/personal safety of ordinary citizens, especially in a socialist society. Tasers, rubber bullets, batons, pepper spray, etc. can disable attackers without the need to kill them.
I think any society should have people with access to guns. As it has been said in this thread, an armed populace is a free populace. If the entity who has guns is the government, then the people are fucked in times of trouble.
All in all: if the common people are armed, they can defend themselves from tyranny.
It is not hard to guess who'll win a fight between ballots and bullets. - Alexander Berkman
There is no reason for a population to be armed, regardless of ideology present. In a capitalistic society, you will see the fringes of the right wing go to excess in their hoarding or arms, something obviously not desirable for the left given the history of right wing militia organizations and their treatment of individuals of our political alignment.
And in a communist society post revolution, they simply cease to have purpose in the hands of a civilian population.
Guns are made for killing, why would anyone have to be killed in a communist society by the hands of a civilian and not the militia?
I want a gun so I can shoot beer cans and get a boner in the process.
Machine guns and grenades in every household, Switzerland-style.
"Win, lose or draw...long as you squabble and you get down, that's gangsta."
The guns used for killing people will be there either way, people will always find ways to get them. The best thing to do is have the working class armed in the case of a revolution so the police don't come crashing down like the Cossacks during the russian revolution.
For student organizing in california, join this group!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1036
http://socialistorganizer.org/
"[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan
They aren't allowed to use them unless there is a conflict I think.
In Europe you will be lucky to find a hand gun where I live. And I know where to get one but the price is prohibitive and people over here see no need in getting a firearm.
So unless you know the right people you ain't getting anything.
I think that people should have access to firearms, not sure how powerful, but they do come in handy. I'm in Jordan and my Uncle is thinking of buying a gun right now. He says that when there are serious protests, the people who are loyal to the government come knocking on each door to cause trouble, a gun can stop something from getting too messy.
I do see the problem with having guns easily available, but a well armed country is a force to be reckoned with.
I'd like to see a world without guns, but we would hope that in a communist society, based on fraternity, mutual aid, solidarity and equal freedom over the means of production and the world's resources, then the need for guns in the way that they are needed now would diminish.
That's if we consider the alienation and isolationist aspects of capitalistic society the reasons behind many murders and what not. With that in mind, I can't really see the point of guns in a proper communist society, unless we say hunting. I can also understand why guns are prohibited in many parts of the world too, and I don't think this is right, yet I am quite glad that some parts of society don't have access to guns sometimes, but that is personal and not a materialistic view.
I'm the Laird of the land, I'm hot like Pol Pot.'A true white liberal.' - Sword and Shield (on me)
'i am a communism fer a long years.' - twenty percent tip
FKA Mahmoud Ahmerdinnerjacket
SWAG1
