Your words. Get them out of my mouth. I said "Depending on the circumstances"... I DID NOT SAY whenever the heck I feel like it, and you are claiming that a search of a US citizen by his/her government, without a warrant, isn't oppression and tyranny? I don't suppose you would be among the crowd that feels we are committing heineous crimes against humanity when we interrogate a poor Islamic fanatic who just wants to wipe Israel and America off the face of the Earth? (Notice said fanatic is an enemy combatant, not a law-abiding citizen of the United States!)
Your phrasing, "depending on the circumstances", just seemed a little ambiguous given the subject matter. While I would agree that a government that sanctions search-and-seizures or arbitrary imprisonment without warrant
does qualify as tyranny, it's still a long way from prompting the citizenry into an armed insurgency against the government. We're talking about a nation that holds itself as a pillar of freedom, democracy and all that nice stuff, and yet the threat of horrible oppression remains strong enough to warrant an armed population? Come again?!
The second half of your response here is off-topic, and has no bearing on this discussion.
personal insults... compensating, are we?
Not an insult, just a vain attempt at humour (see the appropriate Family Guy eppy for the reference). Although if you choose to take it as such, I can't be held accountable.
You are a disgrace. OK, that's over the top. But you get my sentiment. American patriotism in the face of internal and or external tyranny will never be outdated for the forseeable future. And, just a note, we will probably be stuck hauling the rest of the world out of their messes for the forseeable future, too.
Ignoring the United States' supposed charge of "hauling the rest of the world out of their messes" for a moment, let's stay on the issue here: You are claiming that the US population needs to remain armed to offset tyranny and oppression from foreign and domestic evils. By holding this to be accurate, you are claiming that the US Government is liable to oppress its citizenry in the future, and that the US military is incapable of defending the nation from an international threat. You seem like a reasonably nationalistic lad, so would you care to rephrase your answer?
And I am not saying that each individual American is a law unto themselves, so don't even start. When the government arbitrarily sets aside the very laws set to up to govern its interactions with its people, then that government is abusing its power.
I never argued to the contrary. There can be no doubt that a government that violates its duty is guilty of abusing the power bestowed upon it by the people. What I
am arguing is that the threat of this occurring within the US is not nearly enough to warrant dissemination of arms amongst the population. In short, it's just plain asinine to use the threat of 'oppression from the government' as a reason for people to keep their guns.
