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Originally Posted by SPEMack618
I have the traditional American republican (lower case r) disdain for large standing militaries, government telling me what I can and cannot do, and police forces that enforce laws against crime by statue, not crimes of intent.
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As YourNameHere pointed out, what you are advocating is an America that is based on Hobbesian, not Lockean, principles of republicanism. Which is NOT what the founding fathers intended.
I'm also surprised that you don't want a large standing military. Don't you owe your career to the fact that we have one? How do your reconcile your job with your political beliefs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SPEMack618
I understand the difference in prevailing opinions between American and English gun cultures, however, in my research, which may be wrong, weren't most of the restrictions upon English firearms ownership enacted in incremental fashion as public safety measures?
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They were, but that is still irrelevant. America and England are not the same. American gun owners in the U.S. have enormous political clout, while U.K. gun owners never did. So long as that difference exists, there is no lesson that American pro-gunners can learn from the British experience. End of story.
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Originally Posted by SPEMack618
We, as Americans, wouldn't tolerate such restrictions on the right to vote, and here is my hard liner coming out, I freely equate the ballot box and cartridge box, metaphorically speaking.
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Don't you think it's strange that your mentality is shared by the IRA ("Armalite and the ballot box") and the PLO ("olive branch and the freedom fighter's gun")? When your philosophy sounds eerily similar to that of anti-Western, left-wing terrorist groups, that should give you pause.