Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Proud of my fellow Americans today

#1

I try my best to stay away from political topics here on this forum. I’m extremely political, and have my fair share of opinions, but that’s not what I want to associate with Ben’s site.

That being said, over 22,000 people showed up today at the Virginia state capitol to protest the anti-2nd amendment rhetoric of Governor Ralph Northam and other left leaning elected officials. An estimated 16,000 of them were armed, many with “assault rifles” with “high capacity” magazines.

Not one shot was fired. Not one brawl erupted. In fact, when the whole thing was over, the crowd cleaned up after themselves and dispersed peacefully.

I’ve already seen news stories claiming that it was a white supremacists meeting. Total hogwash. There were people of all walks of life there, getting along, making new friends, and coming together to keep our great constitution alive.

Way to go VA!

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#2

Such a sad commentary on our times that people feel compelled to heap such praise on a simple peaceful protest…

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#3

Yup. Considering the results of the protests from BLM, pipeline blockers, climate change activists, and I guess the left in general, I think the contrast is remarkable.

Also noteworthy is the number of media outlets that predicted a bloodbath. The 2nd amendment is about saving lives, not taking them.

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#4

This sounds a lot like a,…
Song Challenge!

Maybe Mark will start a thread in an appropriate place called “The Commentary On Our Times Song Challenge” and we can post our various musical statements right into a common conversation. I’d do it.

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#5

It’s actually meant for protection from our own gov’t. There is nothing about saving lives in the Amendment or in the founding arguments leading to it, to my knowledge.

There are peace protests on a myriad of subjects daily all across our Nation. Cherry picking a few that became prominent in the news to demean an entire larger group of people seems to me to be part of the problem, as opposed to any solution/justification.

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#6

Take the last century as an example. Was there any entity / group that killed more unarmed people than governments? That is exactly why I say the 2A is about saving lives. The founding fathers knew governments often become tyrannical. The 2A was written specifically to curtail such tyranny, ultimately saving lives.

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#7

I get your point, but it’s a big stretch to me.

It might be asked Was there any entity / group that killed more armed people than governments?

Any armed conflict between the gov’t and the people would not be saving lives. In the last century you mention the advancements in weaponry and surveillance have nearly negated the deterrent aspect of the antiquated arms allowed the public.

The only real deterrent to tyranny is enough people in the gov’t and armed services that would/could oppose it. We are only one person charismatic enough to convince the majority of the population otherwise away from a less suitable form of gov’t.

Two party systems do not have a great history of longevity. Hopefully our experiment can perform better in the long run.

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#8

Well, I live about 10 miles from where this took place, and had I not been working, I would have been there with some of my coworkers.
The bottom line, to me, is this… There are PLENTY of gun laws on the books already. Just upholding the ones already there would be MORE than enough. It’s just this, laws, rules, locks etc. are for law abiding folks, and are only there to keep society in check, kind of give us a direction to go as a society. More laws will NOT make this a safer place!
Criminals, by definition, are people that break the laws we enact. My view is that there were people committing crimes and murdering before there were guns, so eliminating guns isn’t the solution. It’s a people problem. My grandfather had a bumper sticker that really summed it all up. “Guns kill people, like spoons made Rosie O’Donnell fat” . In other words, the gun is just a tool, like a knife, club, bomb, brick, etc.

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#9

Are there any examples even remotely close to a Germany or Soviet Union where an armed society was murdered by their own government? I’d love to know about them if there are.

I think the Afghans would disagree. US military tech is nearly a century beyond their weapons, yet here we are 18 years later still fighting people in caves. Battles can be won from the sky, but the war is won on the ground.

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#10

Bingo! And until that problem is figured out, we have a constitutional right to protect ourselves. How many lives did one man save in that Texas church a few weeks ago?

Guns save lives.

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#11

You can’t have it both ways

If people & not guns do the killing, then it’s the same for saving lives.

Yes, the man was armed…so are many domestic terrorists and criminals.

As above I agree it’s a people problem.

The solution also is people.

Don’t get me wrong…I’ve owned & used several guns. I am against the total free for all with arms that the manufacturers wishh to profit from through manipulation & rhetoric such as the huge fear-based campaign waged during the last administration.that resulted in all the record sales

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#12

I could be wrong, but I feel we’re at a bit of a disagreement here, Dave. I’d like to understand if you think there’s a better solution to personal protection than being armed. I’m always open to better ideas.

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#13

No. As stated earlier I’m fine with gun ownership.

The point I was making is that it’s saddening that anyone has to go out of their way to praise someone for not shooting someone else while having a weapon, or for cleaning up after themselves. This should be considered normal behaviour and not need to be rewarded with “participation trophies”, innuendo laden partisan praise & the like.

I’m curious. Any idea how many protest participants were actually from VA or elsewhere?

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#14

My thoughts… It is all about control! But man was not created that way. He was not subjected to anybody. God allowed evil in this world. But God also allows counter evil to take out evil. In I Samuel 24:13 David says, As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. Jesus said in Matthew 5:39, that ye resist not evil. So better protection is there in Jesus! So if evil comes your way, be in Jesus and expose it or rebuke it but not resist it!

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#15

To me, there are 2 reasons that justify the praise. First, there were many ominous predictions from left leaning media outlets that the day would result in violence. Second, this protest was in stark contrast to many left leaning protests over the past several years.

Given the number of people who fear guns or gun ownership, I think it’s important they understand how responsible people actually handle their weapons rather then be fed fear from the media.

I genuinely hope this protest has helped to wake some people up to the misinformation being fed to us by the media. No violence. No damage to public property. Not white supremacists.

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#16

So, (Topic changer alert),
I got some bad news this evening… It seems that my “twanger” won’t be delivered until Thursday instead of Wednesday.

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#17

Well that’s way more important than anything I’ve said. I’m terribly sorry for your loss. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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#18

Well, I just couldn’t like your delay comment.

Hint : when it arrives…it will be there! :wink:

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#19

i know… but the wait is killing me!!!

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#20

Understood…I don’t like waiting for me to make breakfast in the morning…

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