Convincing ourselves that a few pistols, sprinkled in with even a healthy stock of ammo, are a buffer between freedom and tyranny is no more effective than cuddling up with a blankie to keep the monsters under the bed from attacking. And because no monsters have attacked yet, then the blankie must be doing its job.
The same is true for firearms: We believe the only thing that has stopped either political party from assuming dictatorial control of the country is because secretly both sides are scared of an armed citizenry.
Instead, the real power in this country hasn’t been about instruments of war, rather the prosperity of peace. Peace and the lack of needing guns has meant a stable economy, investment, wealth, opportunity and innovation. Those have kept us free and happy, not our guns and ammo.
The Second Amendment isn’t standing between us and tyranny; instead it seems to me that our own prosperity and not needing to have a gun to get things done has more to do with America’s success than our ability to scare our own politicians.
The challenge is that the conversation about guns has been coopted by groups like the National Rifle Association, which has used this flimsy militia argument to sow fear of the government in order to sell more sophisticated and expensive tactical gear to civilians. Instead, it’s high time for responsible gun owners to have a reasonable conversation about the more legitimate purposes for gun ownership and the commonsense legislation – from gun locks and storage to firing capacity – that has the backing of most Americans.
Maybe one of the reasons that we’re having such a hard time solving gun rights in America isn’t because of a plot to take your guns and then come for your liberties. Maybe it’s something much less sinister, but no less dangerous: We’re not really having an honest debate. We’re hiding behind muskets, revolutionaries and militias instead of having a frank conversation about the real stakes, which is, we want to keep our guns and need an excuse.
— Darrell Ehrlick in From my cold dead hand: Gun groups perpetuate militia myth to keep whatever arms they dream of
