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Newspaper That Published Gun-Owners List Hires Armed Guards
inode_buddha writes "Not long ago we ran a story about how a NY newspaper published lists of gun owners. Now, it seems the same newspaper has hired armed guards in response to unspecified threats to the editor, amid 'large volumes of negative response.' From the article: 'The editor, Caryn McBride, told police the newspaper hired a private security company whose "employees are armed and will be on site during business hours," the report said. The guards are protecting the newspaper's staff and Rockland County offices in West Nyack, New York.'"
So what they're saying is the only way they can stop bad guys with guns is good guys with guns. Gee where have I heard that recently....
Well, they may be saying is the only way they can stop bad guys with guns is trained, licensed, regulated guys with guns, who can only carry on duty, don't take their firearm home, etc. Just like most of the civilized world do.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Said information is publicly available. If the second amendment protects gun owners, the first amendment protects this newspaper.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Are you seriously trying to associate a statist quote like ignorance of the law is no excuse with Thomas Jefferson? Thomas Jefferson?
The Thomas Jefferson who said The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive?
The Thomas Jefferson who said, Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms (of government) those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny?
The Thomas Jefferson who said, I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master?
The quote you allude to is from some Briton a few decades earlier.
However you are correct about it being public information. Yet another reason to not live in New York.
Incidentally, here are some other Jefferson quotes:
No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks.
What country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.
Oh yeah, Jefferson was a mega-gun nut, but then all the founding fathers were in favor of unrestricted civilian gun ownership, since they had just survived a war started when the British began confiscating arms from the colonies engaged in peaceful protest, and won primarily by the effort of civilian militias.
I'm soooo getting on a DHS watch list for this.
Note that military M16 has select-fire which can choose between semi-automatic, 3 round burst, & full-automatic.
This is incorrect.
The most widely deployed version of the M16, the M16A2 had three positions on the selector switch: safe, semi-automatic and three-round burst. There is no full auto setting, because the US military has decided that except in the hands of highly-trained troops full auto wastes ammunition to no effect (note that this is not the case for real machine guns, like the M60 and M243, which also burn through the ammo but can use it much more effectively).
The M16A3 does have full auto rather than three-round burst, but it's used only by very small numbers of highly-trained troops. SEALs and such.
The new M16A4, now standard issue for the Marine Corps and some Army units, has safe, semi and three-round burst. No full auto.
No M16 variant has ever had a four-position selector switch, which is what would be needed to provide semi, three-round burst, full auto and a safety position.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
I assume you are not from the U.S. so perhaps a quick US Civics lesson is in order.
In the U.S., the Federal government has limited powers -- ONLY those explicitly ceded to it by the United States Constitution. The Federal government has no rights whatsoever. We elect politicians to administer those powers that we ceded to the Federal Government - and that is IT.
Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading
Just because a group of thugs calls themselves a "government" does not grant them some magical rights apart from those possessed by the citizens who consent to be ruled by that government.
The consent is not a factor here. Most governments on the planet operate without consent of the governed. Mao was correct: the power comes from the barrel of the gun. The government can shoot you and get away with murder. You cannot. That's how it works.
Are you suggesting that might makes right? That if you can get 50.1% of a group to agree with you, then anything you and your representatives do is legitimate?
I don't like it, but that's exactly how the world works. As soon as a group has enough power to do what it wants, it goes ahead and does it. The 50.1% is often not a requirement; you could have 30% and rule over others - as long as those "other" are three distinct groups with 23% each. USSR was ruled by the educated elite who did not number more than 10% of the population. That was more than enough to keep the rest scared or imprisoned. As a recent example of the USA shows, 50.1% of voters can force their choice of the President onto the remaining 49.9% (I'm omitting the comparison of candidates here, it would be depressing in itself.)
To me, that sounds more like hell on Earth than civilization.
Welcome to the club. Machiavelli and de Montesquieu were not contemporaries, but someone put together their dialogs when they met in Hell. The enlightened de Montesquieu was unable to come up with a model of the society that would work any better than the tyranny postulated by Machiavelli. Here is the formula:
bad dictator < democracy < good dictator
Democracy is just an insurance against the bad dictator. But the premiums are killing you. It's mediocrity forever, as opposed to highs and lows of monarchies and dictatorships. In Deus Ex merging with Helios is the wisest ending because the two other endings (giving power to humans) will only result in recurrence of the struggle.
Unless you redefine "right" to mean anything one group can do to another with minimal fear of reprisal due to greater number and/or better armaments,
That's exactly how ZANU-PF komissars understand the word. They are not alone in this interpretation - victors are usually merciless. In the USA the victorious left is already laying claim on your income and your guns - the stuff that separates a free man from an indigent.