“By the rude bridge that arched the flood, / ... Here once the embattled farmers stood, / And fired the shot heard round the world” — R.W. Emerson
The ongoing debate about gun control rages on. Second Amendment supporters are always quick to point out that criminals get guns, so further efforts to hinder that are pointless — despite the fact that other nations have had success doing so. (People get caught speeding every day, so why bother with speed limits?)
The other point they raise is the argument that “the Second Amendment is there in case people forget the others” and that it provides safeguards against autocracy. In a recent Opinion, Mr. Johannes Sayre states that we live in a functioning democracy, but many of us see that crumbling before our eyes (“State gun registration should be halted”).
So, I ask: What is the plan? If the Regulars march out of Washington en route to Dover, do we meet them at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge? Cut the phone lines? They would not be armed with muskets but drones, armored vehicles, rockets and artillery. “Minuteman” would take on a new meaning: They would last minutes.
Can we put that part of the argument to rest?
Ed Mayer
Dover
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
