This is an excerpt from "Nation of Cowards" by Jeff Snyder.
I think it is particularly salient in light of the controversy surrounding John Lott's statistics.
"So it is that when we defend the right to own and carry firearms with utilitarian arguments like those of John Lott, we are in no sense defending an individual right. We are, instead, simply trying to convince a majority of our fellow citizens to permit us to exercise such freedom because there's something in it for them. This is an attempt to purchase Liberty, an implicit admission that our "rights" are subordinate to, and dependent upon, the desires and wishes of our fellow citizens."
Perhaps we need to rethink our approach to this whole argument?
I think it is particularly salient in light of the controversy surrounding John Lott's statistics.
"So it is that when we defend the right to own and carry firearms with utilitarian arguments like those of John Lott, we are in no sense defending an individual right. We are, instead, simply trying to convince a majority of our fellow citizens to permit us to exercise such freedom because there's something in it for them. This is an attempt to purchase Liberty, an implicit admission that our "rights" are subordinate to, and dependent upon, the desires and wishes of our fellow citizens."
Perhaps we need to rethink our approach to this whole argument?