"Hello everyone , I am a high school student seeking help . Me and my partner are about to enter a debate on firearms , and we already know that we are for guns . Can you all just tell me if you are for guns or not and a short reason why ? Thank you ."
"Well , to keep it short , IÂ ’ ll cite you to what I think are two of the best expressions of why the RKBA exists . The first was said by an Englishman named Andrew Fletcher , whose work was frequently cited by our founders to justify armed resistance against British misrule in America . The second was said by a Judge in my beloved Commonwealth of Virginia : And I can not see , why arms should be denied to any man who is not a slave , since they are the only true badges of liberty . . . .The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave . He who has nothing , and belongs to another , must be defended by him , and needs no arms : but he who thinks he is his own master , and has anything he may call his own , ought to have arms to defend himself and what he possesses , or else he lives precariously and at discretion . And though for a while those who have the sword in their power abstain from doing him injury ; yet , by degrees , he will be awed into submission to every arbitrary command . Andrew Fletcher , Political Works , pp . 35 and 221 ( 1749 ) . The right of self-defense is the first law of nature ; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest possible limits ... and [ when ] the right of the people to keep and bear arms is , under any color or pretext whatsoever , prohibited , liberty , if not already annihilated , is on the brink of destruction . Sir George Tucker , Judge of the Virginia Supreme Court and U.S. District Court of Virginia , in I Blackstone COMMENTARIES , Sir George Tucker Ed. , 1803 , pg . 300 There are many solid legal , moral , and practical arguments in support of private firearm ownership . Some are short , but many are long . I know quite a few of them , and IÂ ’ ll happily share them with you if you want some more ammo for your debate . Just let me know here . -- - False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience ; that would take fire from men because it burns , and water because one may drown in it ; that has no remedy for evils , except destruction . The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature . They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . Can it be supposed that those who have the courage to violate the most sacred laws of humanity , the most important of the code , will respect the less important and arbitrary ones , which can be violated with ease and impunity , and which , if strictly obeyed , would put and end to personal liberty -- so dear to men , so dear to the enlightened legislator -- and subject innocent persons to all the vexations that the guilty alone ought to suffer ? Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants ; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides , for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man . They ought to be designated as laws not preventative but fearful of crimes , produced by the tumultuous impression of a few isolated facts , and not by thoughtful consideration of the inconveniences and advantages of a universal decree . Thomas Jefferson , Commonplace Book , 1774-1776 , quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and Punishment , 1764 A militia , when properly formed , are in fact the people themselves , and render regular troops in a great measure unnecessary . . . .the constitution ought to secure a genuine and guard against a select militia. . .and include. . .all men capable of bearing arms. . . . But , say gentlemen , the general militia are for the most part employed at home in their private concerns , can not well be called out , or be depended upon ; that we must have a select militia. . . . [ of the select militia ] These Corps , not much unlike regular troops , well ever produce an inattention to the general militia. . .whereas , to preserve liberty , it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms , and be taught alike , especially when young , how to use them . . . .The mind that aims at a select militia , must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle ; and when we see many men disposed to practice upon it , whenever they can prevail , no wonder true republicans are for carefully guarding against it . Richard Henry Lee , Additional Letters from the Federal Farmer , p. 169-170 ( 1788 ) Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India , history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest . If we want the Arms Act to be repealed , if we want to learn the use of arms , here is a golden opportunity . If the middle class render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial , distrust will disappear , and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn . Ghandi , 2 M. Gandhi , An Autobiography of the Story of My Experiments with the Truth , p. 374 ( M. Desai , trans . 1927 ) . Whenever , therefore , the profession of arms becomes a distinct order in the state. . .the end of the social compact is defeated . . . .No free government was ever founded , or ever preserved its liberty , without uniting the characters of the citizen and soldier in those destined for defense of the state . . . .Such a well regulated militia , composed of freeholders , citizens and husbandman , who take up arms to preserve their property , as individuals , and their rights as freemen . M. T. Cicero ( a pseudonym taken by a writer arguing during the constitutional debates ) , Charleston State Gazette , September 8 , 1788 It has been asserted by the most respectable writers upon government , that a well-regulated militia , composed of the yeomanry of the country , have ever been considered as the bulwark of a free people . Tyrants have never placed any confidence on a militia composed of freemen . John DeWitt , The Anti-Federalist Papers , p. 75 ( M. Borden ed . 1965 ) Make mass searches and hold executions for found arms . V. I. Lenin , Collected Works , Vol . 35 , 4th ed. , p. 286 . From Congressional Record , April 28 , 1970 , p. H3601 . If the opposition disarms , well and good . If it refuses to disarm , we shall disarm it ourselves . Joseph Stalin , Reply to the discussion on the Political Reports of the Central Committee , Dec. 7 , 1927 . Stalin , Works , Vol . 10 , p. 378 . From Congressional Record , April 28 , 1970 , p. H3601 .. The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms . History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing . Indeed , I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty . So let 's not have any native militia or native police . German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories , and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country . Adolf Hitler , dinner talk on April 11 , 1942 , quoted in Hitler 's Table Talk 1941-44 : His Private Conversations , Second Edition ( 1973 ) , Pg . 425-426 ."
"Me and my partner are about to enter a debate on already know that we are for guns"
"happily share them with you if you want some more ammo for your debate ."