Understanding Freedom
Here’s a neat top ten list of guns (I agree with number one, but you can certainly get a good 1911 for well under $1000), but at the end the author asks whether the right to bear arms is a universal human right. I think that’s a good question that reveals a lot about whether the answerer has any concept of liberty.
Unfortunately, I don’t think a lot of other countries than the U.S. have a good concept of liberty. Europe has a vague imitation of it, but I always hear about odd laws where they put limits on free speech and its pretty clear they just don’t get it. In the response to that post, there are a lot of people from outside the U.S. answering and most of them fall in line with: “People could hurt themselves and others with guns, so we can’t let them have guns.” I think a lot of people approach freedom that way.
“I like free speech, so we should have free speech (except for a few things that are harmful that no one should ever be allowed to say). I don’t like guns; they’re scary. People shouldn’t be allowed to have guns.” There’s no actual concept of liberty — of people being able to make their own choices — in the equation, it’s just what someone is not scared to allow others to do.
A lot of the arguments for government taking over health care are from people who don’t understand liberty or just don’t consider that important. This is why it’s a good battle to fight, because even in our own country there’s a lot of education to do on the subject.
(28 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)
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October 8th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I don’t think you can get a Colt 1911 for under $1,000.
It’s funny how two Colt .45s are on that list.
[I never hear people talk up Colt brand 1911s -- it's always Springfield or Kimber. Plus I already have two, and I know neither of them cost $1000. -Ed.]
October 8th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Not funny…truly instructive.
God made men. Mr. Colt made them equal
October 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
“People could hurt themselves and others with guns, so we can’t let them have guns.”
People with no understanding of liberty usually have a distorted understanding of reality itself (along with no understanding of logistics). That’s the only way I could see someone making such a statement. Unless they’re faking it.
And no love for the
KentuckyPennsylvania Long Rifle?October 8th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Freedom scares the crap out of liberals. The mere idea of an individual standing up and saying no to them, and the ablility to back it up, gives them nightmares. Guns are scary because saying no them is scary.
By the way, the wonderful 1911 is no.1. god’s gun. hehehe
October 8th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
“a people should never be afraid of its government. The government should be afriad of its people.”
October 8th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Hey Frank,
Did you stick around to read the libtards comments? They’ll make your head explode. Mewling, whining cry-babies; I thought any moment someone was going to start chanting “Give peace a chance…” Leftists are nothing more than perpetual children.
My Kimber Classic: $750 (second hand)
Para Slim Hawg: $700 new
October 8th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Hey Frank, I read that same list, and it’s following comments yesterday too. It is amazing how uninformed and misguided so many people are about America, and guns. I shudder for the future of the planet. If you read all the comments, the common thread of those against our second amendment freedoms were people who could not handle the responsibility of gun ownership. “The gun might hurt someone!” That’s like someone saying a hammer might get up and drive a nail by itself. If you choose to own a gun, you and you alone are responsible for securing it, and keeping it out of someone’s hands that isn’t responsible. But the sort of people who are for disarming the populace are pretty down on personal responsibility altogether. Which is why like one of the sane commenter’s to the article pointed out, Universal Health care appeals to these same people, “The govt. should take care of me, I shouldn’t have to do it!” is their motto. Anyway, love your site, and thanks for shedding some light on some more stupidity on the net!
Wayne
PS, that guy left a lot of good guns out, The Garand, 94 winchester, etc.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The problem with discussing topis like “liberty” with public school alumni, is that it’s a foreign concept to many of the dumbed down. So, rather than discuss the right to protect their families, voice political opposition, or the right to choose their preferred medical treatment for themselves or their families, we need to use better analogies.
I’m guessing that, if government taking away liberty was described as an elected official not allowing you to watch American Idol, that the respondent would be outraged. Or, perhaps, if the example of an elected official passing a law only allowing them to play Grand Theft Auto for 1/2 hour each day, there might be tyranny.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Like an earlier thread about two of FDR’s Four Freedoms, they think “freedom” means “freedom from responsibility and consequneces.”
October 8th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Few things piss me off more than gun laws. Gun owners go to sleep one night innocent Americans and wake up criminals with their “illegal” guns because of these laws.
I think the 2nd amendment is the most important because it shows where the power resides, with the people not with the government.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Two other words they don’t understand: capitalism and right-wing. They think capitalism is the ‘ism’ or ideology of capital. In other words, greed. In all fairness to them, capitalism was named by its enemies to cause exactly that misunderstanding. So, all their arguments against capitialism are really against greed, and they don’t understand that the true definition is practically synonymous with freedom.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
On the linked page, one of the libtards from one of those 3rd world countries like england was saying they got mugged but didn’t need a gun. LOL! They were robbed and abused because they were incapable of defending themselves.
If they had had a gun…
1 dead mugger
1 keeping of belongings
1 piece of mind
Instead they whine about guns while cowering in their mothers basement. What a bunch of retards.
The no.1 gun is the one you have with you.
the best gun ever made is the Winchester lever gun, regardless of calibur.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Storm1911, I don’t think it’s freedom itself that scares liberals. It’s knowing that if they are responible for themselves, they’ll have no one else to blame when thing inevitably go bad.
Frank, have you shopped for a 1911 in the past year? I’ve only seen one Mfr I would trust under a grand (Taurus at $800).
October 8th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Colt made the first one.
That’s probably why it’s listed as a Colt.
I like my Springfield Mil-spec, but I’d also like to get a Colt just to get an original.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Don’t know who said it first, but most of the world desires ‘freedom from fear’.
Too many people in the world are trying to alleviate their fears by giving up their freedom for the promise of security.
Ben Franklin had it right; they deserve neither, and lose both.
I salivate at the Browning M2 50 cal. Machine Gun.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I love my Colt 1911A1. Bought it in the 60′s for about $300. I also own a Springfield ’03 and M-1 Garand. Both great weapons! The .44 mag is flashy but really shouldn’t be on that list over the S&W .38 special which was ubiquitous in law enforcement for half a century or more.
The weenie commenter’s really don’t understand our constitution. Nothing in the bill of rights empowers the federal government, to the contrary, it tells the federal government where it may not tread. To interpret anything in the Bill of Rights as empowering the federal government is ludicrous.
Only the free own weapons!
October 8th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
I personally don’t care about your gun cost discussions…I own one, I support thr NRA like you wouldn’t believe and always pack an extra cajun when we face these kinds of opportunities.The question was about my liberties and yours, do I see them being upheld. Well As long as I breathe they do. Bring me any dumb ass to Prosper Texas who thinks he’s been violated, I will gladly explain what liberties he/or she has left when they ask me.
October 8th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Freedom and liberty are the difference between citizens and subjects. Also, neither one are truly about doing whatever you feel like doing – - they are about the ability to choose to do the right thing. Neither can exist without a strong foundation that there is right and wrong. That’s why both are such a threat to the moral relativism of the liberals. Oh, yeah, they can have my guns – - bullets first!
October 9th, 2009 at 5:26 am
I’m a tad surprised the list had no SMGs. (MAC-10/11 w/suppressor? Uzi? Thompson? MP38/40? OK, maybe not the M3…) Maybe we need to talk about diversity when speaking of freedom….
October 9th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Of course the right to own and use weapons is a basic human right.
The list is lame.
The Model 29because of “Dirty Harry” but not the M1917 that made the DA revolver asuccessful platform?
No Garand but the Glock makes it”
I handled a Glock once and now it hurts when I pee.