“If government can’t protect us, let them give us guns.” – Resident of Chibok, Nigeria in ‘Nigeria’s Boko Haram crisis reaches deadliest phase’ [at bbc.com]
“If government can’t protect us, let them give us guns.” – Resident of Chibok, Nigeria in ‘Nigeria’s Boko Haram crisis reaches deadliest phase’ [at bbc.com]
The “let” part is your problem… Not the protection part.
If the gov’t can “let”, they can also “un-let.”
So, I say, let it not be the government’s decision.
I think your reading of “let” as a type of permission is erroneous. It’s just a different type of sentence construction. It’s older, commonly seen in biblical passages, like “Let all Christian men rejoice.” That is not a pleading that someone should let them rejoice, it is a command that they should do so. We would be more likely to write that sentence as “If they cannot protect us, then they should give us guns.”
Or, perhaps more familiarly: “Let them eat cake”. It has nothing to do with “permission”, but suggests a course of action.
The construct is still quite common; e.g. when I say to my brother “let’s go shooting”, I’m not asking for permission.
Aren’t you still kind of asking permission from Murphy? 😉
Yes, I see that now.
Helll, why can’t Gloomberg send his personal security team? It’s for the children(TM)
what and be like the rest of the “poor unwashed shmucks” he disarmed for their own good in NYC? Surely you jest.
I’m sorry, but that image just p*sses me off. These are people being actively preyed upon by large bands of outlaws armed with AK-47s, and here they are with flintlock muzzle-loaders and some sorry-*ssed homemade bows? It’s an atrocity.
it’s fine, it looks like the guy that has the 12 gauge with the bent barrel has their backs
Those probably aren’t flintlock muzzle-loaders. The tradition in those parts is “Dane guns”, a term that harks back to the trade goods provided by the Danes in the 18th and 19th centuries; those were nearly state of the art but of poor workmanship, i.e. they worked just long enough before failing, sometimes catastrophically, which was all the traders needed. Sometimes those guns were caplock muzzle-loaders and sometimes they were single shot breechloaders; after the Danes were bought out by the British and stopped coming, the locals themselves could and did make weapons of similar quality.
Imagine what they’d think of Americans who have state-of-the-art tools and who do nothing (except for tweet and blog, begging for their “rights”), while they have the spirit to make do with what they have.
Americans aren’t being preyed upon by armed groups, kidnapped, beaten, and killed…oh wait.
You seem to be the only one who gets it. +5 Internets.
I still think we need to send American volunteers over there to help fight back the savages who are murdering the innocents in a simple quest for power.
Is there any law, international, Nigerian, or American, that would prevent such a volunteer force from deploying?
You first.
Unless you happen to have a Nigerian firearm license, for some reason, I think you’re pretty much SOL.
Some went to Chechnya during their first war(?) with Russia. At one point many Americans were showing up to fight and they were asking Americans to stay home because they didn’t even have enough food for their own fighters, IIRC. I’m not sure how that would happen in this post 9/11 America.
I would have no problem with private individuals helping in the fight and funnelling private arms to help the people of Nigeria. But, I can’t see that happening today with the government we now have.
Oh, you could go over without too much trouble, I’m sure. But good luck coming back to the US. You would be on more lists than the Publisher’s Clearing House has.
They’d probably say “Of course nobody preys on them; they’re armed to the teeth!”
Maybe the should pretend to be of the Muslim Brotherhood or Mexican drug cartels, then the Obama regime would give them guns.
Not bad trigger discipline…
Also string discipline.
Yeah, but dude in the black T-shirt could improve his muzzle discipline somewhat.
They just need the Machinegun Preacher to help them out…
Great movie, even if it was stretching the real events.
This is pitifully sad.
But what about the whole hashtag campaign? Are you telling me that hasn’t been working? Somebody get Michelle Obama to do some more pouty faces holding a sign stat!
Maybe that sign should read.”Arm your people, Goodluck Jonathan!” #Nigeriansdefendyourselves”. She can still do the pouty face if she wants.
They are acting out of fear. They need to build pits like Vietnam.
Yep, punji stakes and whip traps are effective. Also, don’t underestimate bows.
Sad that they don’t have access to better guns, makes me think about all the SKS’ and the SVTs that can be bought for as little as 200-300 in Canada.
The anti-gun goon squad over here can’t seem to get their heads around the idea that tyranny comes in all shapes and sizes.
You are so right!
Is that flintlock missing a frizzen and a pan?
I can tell you when these guys do get access to real guns the other guys are in trouble.
Maybe we could somehow set up a firearms and ammo donation? Could this feasibly be done? Or are they just flat out “not allowed” to own weapons?
A short summary of Nigerian gun laws:
– Nobody may own anything that isn’t a muzzle-loader or “Dane gun” (see above) without a license. Licenses can be denied for any reason or no reason at all.
– If the local Governor and Police Commissioner so decide, people of their state may not even own muzzle-loaders without a license. The muzzleloader license is the only license that cannot (in theory) be denied for no reason.
So Boko Haram broke the law? Arrest them all!
Wow bows & arrows. Do people realize Hernando Cortez conquered millions of Indians with nothing more than matchlocks, pikes and scary horses? Throw in disease, hatred of the human sacrificing aztecs and presto…326 Spanish conquistadors win. I do agree with the Vietnam tactics-whatever it takes.
Pocket smallpox
“Shi-shi-shi-shaa-haa”
I would bet that they could at least take a few ak-47s from dead enemy combatants with this loadout and some good planning. Not ideal but possible. Then whatever weapons they obtain could be hidden away until they were needed as many of the Mexican civilians did.
The photo is missing the “Stand Strong CT” sign.
Seriously though, thank you TTAG for posting these stories. I wrote to a local station that did a small segment on Nigeria and begged the question, “What can be done?” I included links and outlined what could be done, why it’s immoral for government to disarm their own people and why it’s dangerous for the people to allow infringement on their natural right to keep and bear arms. I didn’t get any response whatsoever and, as far as I know, they didn’t do another segment on the subject again.
It’s a pity that private citizens cannot use their own money and send arms. They apparently need them badly right now.
Why not start a kickstarter campaign to protect the nigerian children or whomever, take the money, go to corrupt neighbouring country, esablish contacts with anti boko haram groups, pay your taxes(bribes) call norinco (the amazon of weapons to the third world) place order to outfit your “security detail” protecting your “aid workers” and wage a small war, maybe become a warlord or despot yourself