Guns, who should be able to own them? Options

[*NatiMarie*]

We all know that guns can cause harm, they're everywhere darnit!

Primarily, who can own them? Who shouldn't own them?

[ComradeRed]

But the thing is.. in Fallujah, we're fighting on their soil, unfamiliar territory to us, with natural defenses for them.. while in the US, if it does come to a revolt, they'd still have a lot more high tech weaponry.. i mean.. the vast majority of gun owners own handguns, not automatic weaponry, so an armed revolt would be basically suicide


Part of the army defects? are you saying that our troops in Iraq defect?


You're still stuck with historical references, I seriously doubt that we can go into some base and hijack tanks and aircraft or something.. plus civlians wouldnt know how to utilize the weaponry even IF they managed to steal them.. the Continental army was at least familiar with the weapons they stole

In the US, the people would still know their local community better than the government. ENOUGH people, armed with only handguns, would be able to overthrow their governemnt, especially when the government lacked support.

YOu have to remember that in a revolution, actual fighting is only a small part of it. In Eastern Europe and the Soviet Bloc, alot of governments were brought down with only a little fighting. Why? Because after the soldiers were ordered to fire on their own countrymen, alot simply laid down their arms and joined the rebels looting the country.

You have to remmeber that when I say a revolution, I don't mean one now obviously. One could only happen when the government is so decrepit, that it already lost the support of MOST of the country, and that morale in the army itself is low.

No I'm not saying our troops in Iraq defect. They're being ordered to shoot Iraqis. When soldiers are ordered to shoot their own friends and neighbors for a cause that they might not percieve to be just, historically speaking, they have a tendency to defect: Eastern Europe 1990s, Russia 1918, etc. This is especially true of conscripted troops. If we resume the draft, then a sucessful revolution would be fairly probably within 50 years. But we probably won't.

There's lots of retired army vets. They tend to be the most traditionally conservative of all. The American Revolution was started largely by people with military experience, or at least civilians who could figure out.