Those who pooh-pooh the Second Amendment and the Minutemen who were the genesis of our nation tell us that ordinary citizens with AR15s and such would have no hope against a serious military force, whether foreign or rogue domestic. They would do well to read “Invisible Armies” by Max Boot. Subtitled “An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present,” it is 700-some pages of Little Guys kicking Big Guys’ butts.
The Afghans booted not one but two superpowers, including us, out of their country. In WWII, resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe did much to harry their conquerors. According to Boot, Dwight Eisenhower said after WWII the French Resistance “had been worth fifteen divisions to him.”
Resistance fighters often have outside help, of course, little of which we could count on here if there was a Red Dawn type invasion or if a true fascist gained power from within. Boot notes that Great Britain alone furnished about a million STEN submachine guns to partisans fighting the Nazis.
If it happened here, England could keep its STEN guns. We have more than twenty million AR15s, thank you very much. There are currently more than fourteen million licensed hunters in the USA. 42% of us supposedly live in homes with at least one firearm. Both sides of the “gun control” debate concede that there are over 400 million firearms here, enough to arm every man, woman, and child.
There is a reason that every tyrant confiscated guns from any citizen who might oppose them before they began to stomp their victims under their collective boot-heel. Our current President’s opponents love to liken him to Adolf Hitler. They apparently missed the fact that his campaign has been vigorously pro-armed citizen. The real tyrant does not arm those he intends to subjugate.
Unfortunately, the real danger to free Americans is coming from our own tyrannical politicians, who are determined to disarm and subjugate us, while subsidizing and sheltering criminal illegal aliens who prey upon us.
Is this a euphemism? I live in Wisconsin so who will try and disarm me?
one of them fellas looking to protect the pension, wears a badge and “just follows orders…”
epstein didn’t kill himself…
Thank goodness we voted them out last November!!
I dimly recall a study where every successful insurgency had a base of supply outside their borders. Which might be problematical for us. However, as you note, we do start with a pretty decent supply on hand.
I also dimly recall a time when (at least some of) the ACLU was campaigning against handguns, while maintaining that everyone should be stocking up on rifles as being more effective arms.
The first third of The Rise And Fall of the Third Reich covers a lot of the maneuvering by interest groups…..which seems rather current. The street violence we saw a couple of years back was a pale shadow of what went on in the Weimar Republic. Donning my tinfoil hat, it’s not hard to understand why those of a statist mindset are so vehement about their opposition to the EBRs.
Lighter reading on that subject is “Winter” by Len Deighton. The novelist grew up in pre WWII Germany and gives some insight about just how Hitler’s path to power appeared.
I doubt we would need any help from outside our borders. If we did, there are thousands of miles of border and coastline through which goods can be smuggled. During the Revolution, the British Navy blockaded the colonies’ northern ports, but not our southern ports. Also, goods could be smuggled in through the northern ports anyway. Like, fill a rowboat with contraband at night, and put towels around the oars to silently sneak the goods into the harbor.
We finally have a friend in the White House. That said, my wife and I had our eyes opened rather widely when we both recently bought new pistols (Ruger RXM in my case) and filled out the federal NCIS forms, specifically, how much they have been expanded to the point of being unconstitutional during the past four years. You do not need to fill anything out to exercise God given Rights, and this also goes for concealed carry. In all 50 states and our territories.
You don’t fill out a NCIS (sic) form, or an NICS form. You fill a 4473 ATF form, the seller fills the information for the background check (NICS). All firearns purchased retail since 1968 have had those.
The book “And Not A shot is Fired” explains how the communists took over Czechoslovakia . This same play book is what thaeleft is doing to destroy American freedom.
Correct. Our enemy has learned that the way to invade is peacefully, not martially. In the 700s Muslim armies took over Spain and Portugal, and some of southern France (Gaul). In 732, Charles Martel led a European army which halted their advance at Tours, France. The Muslim invaders had some success in Sicily and the Balkans, but never got north of Vienna, Austria.
Nowadays, Muslims are invited to come into Europe as guests. Most are not committing crimes against Europeans, but some are. Will they ever try to take over? Who knows, but the fact is they made it into Europe peacefully this time, when their military invasion was halted last time in 732.
During the Joe Biden administration, America had open borders. If enemies who want to harm us wanted to get in, they could easily do it, while leaving their weapons at home. So, sometimes a peaceful invasion will succeed when a military invasion fails. Especially when the invaders are dealing with suckers.
Regardless of the content, buy the book used since Max supports people that are not rather friendly to the 2nd Amendment.
Most of us have never read source documents to determine for ourselves who are really the Fascists. Find yourself a copy of the 2024 Democratic Party platform, then go find a copy of “The Doctrine of Fascism” (1932) by Benito Mussolini and see how many of Mussolini’s points you can find in the DNC platform.
Just because a political theory is extreme doesn’t necessarily mean it is a right leaning philosophy. Mussolini was a communist before he developed his national socialist facism. If you find me in error, please point it out to me.
You are indeed correct on fascism-at least in the 20th century. The formal name of the Nazi party was the National Socialist German Workers Party. NSDAP in German. Broadly speaking, the difference between fascism/socialism and communism is who owns the industrial base and the banks. Makes it easier to get the fat cats on board.
Scott, you are correct. There was a successful effort by academic leftists in the 1990s to add “right-wing” as a qualifier to many dictionaries’ definitions of “fascist”, in order to re-brand it as different from socialist totalitarianism. I have an older dictionary that supports this assertion.
This:
“There is a reason that every tyrant confiscated guns from any citizen who might oppose them before they began to stomp their victims under their collective boot-heel. Our current President’s opponents love to liken him to Adolf Hitler. They apparently missed the fact that his campaign has been vigorously pro-armed citizen. The real tyrant does not arm those he intends to subjugate.”
The Second Amendment is technically about guns, but it is philosophically about the distribution of power to the lowest level. Unfortunately, there are a fair number of politicians and bureaucrats who do not want power distributed. They want it concentrated in the government where they can maneuver around it to their advantage if not gain control of it outright. Sadly, they do not want the likes of you and me to be able to take care of ourselves. They want us entirely dependent on them because that is what makes them important. If their function is just one option of several from which you and I can pick and choose, then they are reduced to paper pushers. Well, they don’t want to be paper pushers; they want to be important. More than that, they want the power that being important brings.
Well said.
We don’t need to worry about foreign invaders, but the internal politics and monetary policy here are concerning.
Trump has accomplished a number of “firsts”:
1. First misogynist to appoint a female Chief of Staff.
2. First dictator to advocate for arming private citizens.
3. First Nazi to openly embrace Jewish family members.
4. First authoritarian to shrink the size of government and reduce regulations.
While there will be errors and probably cuts to programs I might support, the greater likelihood is that the forces of bureaucracy and weak-kneed politicians will gather to prevent as much cutting as really needs to be done.
Respectfully, the “20 million” seems to have as it’s genesis, sales of finished firearms, I suspect there are probably nearly as many homemade from 80% frames to add to that count. I doubt 20 million is all that accurate.
Quote of the Day:
“A prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on the contrary, it is seen that when princes have thought more of ease than of arms they have lost their States….. For among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised, and this is one of those ignominies against which a prince ought to guard himself, as is shown later on. Because there is nothing proportionate between the armed and the unarmed; and it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man should be secure among armed servants. Because, there being in the one disdain and in the other suspicion, it is not possible for them to work well together. And therefore a prince who does not understand the art of war, over and above the other misfortunes already mentioned, cannot be respected by his soldiers, nor can he rely on them. He ought never, therefore, to have out of his thoughts this subject of war, and in peace he should addict himself more to its exercise than in war; this he can do in two ways, the one by action, the other by study.” – Nicolo Machiavelli from ‘The Prince’
Under the American System, the American People (theoretically) rule and the Representatives that they elect, and send to Washington, are their servants. However, please take note of Machiavelli’s point (above) that: “it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man should be secure among armed servants…”.
If the American People are disarmed whilst the American Government remains armed-to-the-teeth, then the situation that Machiavelli warns about comes to reality. An unarmed ruler walks among armed servants. It follows then, from Machiavelli’s point, that the former ruler will soon be forced to be the servant whilst the former servants now become the Master.
That is exactly the situation that those who seek to disarm the American People are trying to create. An inversion of the American System. Effectively, a return to a “Ruling Class” of Government Overseers and unelected Rulers.
An armed Nation is a Free Nation. Unarmed people are slaves. That has been the story for the entire Written History of Mankind. Thus, there can only be one conclusion: Those seeking to disarm the American Citizen, via the mechanism of “Gun Control”, are internal enemies of the American People and traitors to the American System.
Do not EVER be fooled, by their propaganda and their indoctrination, that they have the “best interest” of the American People (at heart) whenever they push their Firearms-Prohibition policies. By trying to disarm us, they mark themselves as tyrants and traitors. It is as clear as if they were branded with a capitol “T” on their foreheads! Their actions (truly) do speak louder than their words.
Sounds like a great book. I’ll have to get it. Guerrilla warfare is so successful in modern times that I’ve wondered why Ukraine tries to fight Russia conventionally. Sun Tzu said to attack weakness, not strength. Trying to go head to head with the Russian Army is attacking strength. It seems odd that Afghans could defeat the Russians while Ukrainians cannot, but that shows the power of guerrilla warfare.