How would life in the USA be diffent if there had never been a 2nd Amendmanet?

[Shooter973]

How do you think life here in the USA would be different if we never had the 2nd Amendment? I think our free speech and most of our other rights would have disappeared long ago, with out the teeth of the 2nd amendment. Just a little something to think about! How would your own life be different ?

 

[Devonai]

You only need to look as far as the UK to answer this question.

 

[Bill Hook]

There wouldn't be a 1st or a 3rd-10th either.

 

[bukijin]

Registration of all firearms, licensing of all firearms owners - at the government's discretion - not as a right.
It's much easier to legislate than to change the constitution.

 

[Delmar]

Pounds Sterling and Texan's with a clipped Brit accent???? LMAO!

 

[71Commander]

There wouldn't be an America

 

[Bruce in West Oz]

You'd find it would be just the same as living here.

You'd be permitted to own the firearms the government said you could have for as long as they said you could have them. They (and you) would be licensed and registered; your details would be on a national database.

End of story.

Bruce

 

[Iain]

Yep, devonai is right. As I write this there is a government officer standing next to me to make sure I say 'but there is free speech in the UK'. Oooh he's gone, there isn't any, I have to have all my posts vetted by MI5 and they beat me when I say bad things about the Labour Party. (and for those who need irony spelled out -> )

 

[clarkg1124]

Ah,Australia-wonderful people,beautiful scenery.When you get fed up with your slide into Fascism,throw the bums out!!!Start over again!!!We will show you how!!!Maybe we should do the same here.
Clark

 

[Mark Tyson]

throw the bums out!!!Start over again!!!We will show you how!

We should lead by example.

 

[clarkg1124]

My last sentence suggests that very thing.
Clark

 

[Hot brass]

This would be a communist country

 

[mountainclmbr]

If this country didn't have a 2nd ammendment I would just add about 50 million USA people to the count of citizens murdered by their own governments in the last century. I also think that the world would have been taken over by communism. It is actually quite terrifying when I think about it.

 

[Mr. Bombastic]

Yep, devonai is right. As I write this there is a government officer standing next to me to make sure I say 'but there is free speech in the UK'. Oooh he's gone, there isn't any, I have to have all my posts vetted by MI5 and they beat me when I say bad things about the Labour Party. (and for those who need irony spelled out -> )

You think there's free speech here? Just take a look at the latest scandal concerning Charles. The media has been prohibited from reporting on it!

You do realise internet access here is monitored automatically don't you? The government forces ISPs to keep records which the police have access to on demand.

Edit.: Actually, everything I just posted is a lie. The British Government is a bastion of freedom.

Please note: this post has been edited by INGSOC.

 

[Iain]

You can freely read about it on the internet. That is a reasonably minor issue, the alleged sexuality of the heir to the throne is not of public interest as far as I am concerned. In fact the whole royalty is of no interest to me and I wish they would go away (a sentiment your sig seems to agree with).

The ISP thingy - I don't like it, but child porn is an issue. Obviously there is a double edged argument there which I thoroughly appreciate.

This place isn't Soviet Russia, we enjoy a significant amount of free speech, although issues like 'incitement to racial hatred' are thorny.

 

[Mr. Bombastic]

I'm not the monarchys numero uno fan either, but that doesn't mean I can condone censoring the medias reporting of an event concerning the future Head of State.

You think it's fine that everyone is guilty before proven innocent nowadays? Monitored internet 'just in case' you commit a crime. Monitored public 'just in case' you commit a crime. Arrest for carrying a pocket-knife 'just in case' you commit a crime. And when ID cards come out, mass DNA fingerprinting and logging 'just in case' you commit a crime.

You are a potential paedophile in our Governments eyes. Feel free?

How fettered fast we are.

 

[Iain]

as I said, there is a double edged argument to monitoring by ISP's and fully appreciate what you are saying. Do American ISP's monitor their subscribers?

 

[Mr. Bombastic]

It's not really double edged. Infringe everyones freedom and track as many people as possible in public and private so that the government has some extra evidence to use against against the small minority that commit crimes. It's a pretty unbalanced 'double' edged sword.

 

[Standing Wolf]

There wouldn't be an America

Yep.

 

[JJohnston015]

Australia and the UK would be scrambling to find someone else with a "gun culture" to blame their problems on.

 

[MeekandMild]

Taken literally, the Constitution would not have been ratified and so we would still be working under the Articles of Confederation. We would have avoided all the pitfalls of Federalism and Empire.

We would have avoided the War of 1812, the Mexian American War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War and probably both World Wars. Needless to say French Indochina would still be French and we would have never set foot in Persia. We would be primarily an agrarian nation, much smaller, with much of our present area being occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes, the Cherokee Nation, and several other viable countries. Texas would be a separate country, and would have annexed Mexico. Louisiana would nearly cut the country in half, with a good chance of being allied with Texas.

But don't lose hope. We can still get there from here. Though I'd be a little bit apprehensive when the North Dakota Free Norwegian Republic gets ahold of all those nukes.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

There, in that wooden stock and blued steel, lies what gives the most common of men the most uncommon of freedoms. When ordinary hands are free to own this extraordinary symbol, representing the full measure of human dignity and liberty, that is as good as you can have it. It doesn't matter whether it's purpose is to defend our shores or your front door......whether it is a rite of passage for a young man or a tool of survival for a young woman......whether it brings meat to the table or trophies for the shelf.......without respect to age, or gender, or race, or class, the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms connects us all - with all that is right......................Charlton Heston

 

[BHPshooter]

Look at how you're living now, and it's a fair hint of what it would be like to live without a Second Amendment.

Remember, Rights are bestowed upon you from above, and the government's only legitimate purpose is to protect our rights. We have a RIGHT to [carry a gun for] self-defense, and that right is given from God. That right exists with or without our beloved Bill of Rights, the question of consequence is whether or not the Government is doing its job of making sure that your rights are unimpeded.

Is that what our government is doing? No. Is any government on the planet doing that? Not that I know of.

So, in short, without the Second Amendment you would still have a right to keep and bear arms. The Second (along with the other 9) are there to serve as a line in the sand.

Wes

 

[Parker Dean]

Well I suppose we won't be hearing from devonai, St Johns, and Mr. Bombastic until, and if, they get back from the re-education camps. Good Luck y'all!

Originally posted by the fumegator
Remember, Rights are bestowed upon you from above, and the government's only legitimate purpose is to protect our rights. We have a RIGHT to [carry a gun for] self-defense, and that right is given from God. That right exists with or without our beloved Bill of Rights, the question of consequence is whether or not the Government is doing its job of making sure that your rights are unimpeded.

There were at least two camps concerning the BoR's. One held that without at least these rights being specifically espoused it would be too easy for the rights of the people to be revoked by an oppressive government. The other was that by enumerating these rights it would be taken to mean that only these rights were protected, although the 9th and 10th were attempts to rectify this.

It seems that the scenario envisioned by the anti-BoR camp has come true in that if it isn't spelled out in the BoR it seems that the courts hold that a right does not exist. While at the same time the pro-BoR camps' worst nightmare is coming true despite the existence of the BoR.

 

[Sergeant Bob]

Parker Dean

It seems that the scenario envisioned by the anti-BoR camp has come true in that if it isn't spelled out in the BoR it seems that the courts hold that a right does not exist.

We have our share of that right here on this board. There are quite a few Cafeteria Constitutionalists, who support only their pet amendments (including the Second) and think even that should be limited to only what they feel comfortable with.
The thing which strikes me (although I do understand it) is that some of the most fervent supporters of the Second Amendment (and the rest of the BOR) are immigrants to this country. If only more people could appreciate freedom the way they do.