The Gun Is Civilization In light of the tragic events of last week in Arizona, and the stringent cries from gun-control advocates for tougher laws, we felt this essay, written by an anonymous marine and circulated through email during the early part of 2010, to be a timely piece that needed revisiting. Leaving citizens unarmed is not the answer to tragic incidents like the one that killed several innocent bystanders and critically wounded a sitting congresswoman. You cannot have a civilized society when the only people armed are the predators and law-breakers that prey on the weak and defenseless. --- Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it. In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some. When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender. There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger’s potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat – it has no validity when most of a mugger’s potential marks are armed. People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly. Then there’s the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don’t constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level. The gun is the only weapon that’s as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn’t work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn’t both lethal and easily employable. When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation… and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Good reading there:smart:

Wonderful read there... I too carry a firearm with me...

I might not have to worry about the people element but I also got to be aware of the 4 legged element too (Wolves, Cougars, etc.)

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone.

Enuf Said right there!

Vary well said! If every one in that room had a gun he would of poped off one maybe two rounds.So far 29 states have a c&c laws.I hope more are to come soon.

I figured that'd be a "no brainer" for you Mike!!! No matter the 2 or 4 legged critters!!! Glad you enjoyed!!!

Department of Home land security considers us all terrorists, hell they even say paying for things in cash is a suspicious activity and should be reported now.:banghead: We are all guilty until proven innocent now days. Which by Obamas executive orders have even taken the right to be represented away if by the rules set by DHS fall within their guidlines as a terror act you are jail bait for life with no chance of even getting a trial. No joke its happening every day but the MSM doesn't report that side of the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngsKzdKNAmo