Cold Dead Hands

Hey, 2A Patriots: Tyranny is here. Where are those well-armed militias?

Pro-gun rally, Richmond, Va., 2020. / Photo by author

Here’s a question for all you flag-hugging “2A Patriots” who say unfettered gun ownership is the only reliable defense against tyrannical government: Why aren’t you locked and loaded for the Trump junta, which is treating the Constitution like toilet tissue and disappearing innocent people like it’s Argentina 1978?

The gun lobby has always insisted that the right to bear arms is the ultimate defense against threats to constitutional principles and civil liberties. If that means the occasional school massacre, so be it; a few shredded school children is just the price of freedom.

From the website of the American Gun Association:

“When the founding fathers wrote our constitution, their intention was to protect the citizens of the United States, and all future citizens, from the atrocities they knew governments could commit. … without the 2nd Amendment, all other amendments will eventually cease to exist as well … History has proven time and again that when the government comes for your guns, they [sic] will shortly thereafter come for your life. An unarmed populace has no protection from a government that can use deadly force against it.”

And from Rand Paul, writing on the libertarian website LewRockwell.com in 2003:

“The Second amendment is not about hunting deer or keeping a pistol in your nightstand. It is not about protecting oneself against common criminals. It is about preventing tyranny. The Founders knew that unarmed citizens would never be able to overthrow a tyrannical government as they did…. It is practical, rather than alarmist, to understand that unarmed citizens cannot be secure in their freedoms. It’s convenient for gun banners to dismiss this argument by saying “That could never happen here, this is America” — but history shows that only vigilant people can keep government under control. By banning certain weapons today, we may plant the seeds for tyranny to flourish ten, thirty, or fifty years from now.”

Ok, well, tyranny has arrived. A duly elected president of the United States is extorting universities and law firms, enriching cronies, installing cranks and hacks in high places, ignoring court orders, and snatching people off the streets with no due process or even a plausible justification. If you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to take up arms against a brutal, unaccountable government, now’s your chance.

Any takers? How about you cosplaying weekend Rambos bristling with enough fire power to neutralize a local police force? What about you strip-mall freedom fighters packing heat to order a Happy Meal? Anyone?

Crickets.

Rick Bowmer / AP