Originally posted by seagull
Handguns are, indeed, only half the battle where the gov't. is concerned, should the worst ever happen.
As the slogan goes, fear the government that fears your gun. I happen to believe in strong regulatory
accountability for gun owners (distinct
from restriction).
I don't think there is any denying that guns pose a danger. The exercise of force, by definition, is tyrannical. Our founders left us the second
amendment so that if absolutely necessary we would be able to fight fire with fire. We should strive to mitigate potential dangers that come with this
right.
But when the government goes beyond concern for those consequences, and goes to catagorically remove the ability of the people to exercise force in
their own name as a last resort, then we're talking as much about fear of the people as fear of guns, and that is a dangerous position to be in.
"An anarchist guide to home defense" or something like that. VERY useful,
A few notes on that from someone who has seen several versions of various "anarchist's something or another" books:
1. Some of the things detailed in the books that I have seen were inherently criminal and of no valid use in any situation I could imagine. I can't
recommend any book that advocates such criminality. The books I've seen, on the other hand, were quite antisocial and seemed to have been written by
maladjusted teenagers who thought it would be fun to hurt people.
2. MANY of the things detailed in those books were extremely dangerous, to the point that some believe they may be a booby-trap designed to make
foolish subversives injure themselves. It would be preferable to rely on a personal understanding of any principles relevant to your objective, and
sound scholarly sources of extra knowledge. One version of the anarchist's cookbook instructs the reader to grind a highly flamable solid material
with a mortar and pestle. The reader may or may not have fingers left after attempting to do so.
3. Some of the chemistry explained in versions I have seen was suspect at best. Just because two common household substances have chemicals, which if
combined, should be explosive, does not mean that mixing the two chemicals will form the desired compound, or that said compound if formed will not
also include substantial impurities that reduce or nullify its utility. That is, of course, to say nothing of the potential for dangerous unmentioned
byproducts.
Personally, if I was going to build a library for a militia so as to teach people how to protect themselves and their country, I'd include a a series
of chemistry texts and encyclopedia articles on a few particularly useful chemical compounds, a few easy to understand works on military history,
annotated in advance for issues of relevance to the region, works on civil engineering and various detailed maps of the region showing all logistical
infrastructure and strategic resources, detailed documentation the proceedures of any relevant bureaucracies to aid in procuring papers and staying
unnoticed, all available literature on the systems of potential military threats, etc.
Dime store bomb building advice is for second rate criminals. Someone who intends to be prepared for the unfortunate possibility that they might have
to defend their country should understand considerably more than the anarchist books can teach... a sense of responsibility and conscience being first
among those things.
[edit on 3-5-2007 by The Vagabond]