Jacob G. Hornberger – March 8, 2018
The reason our American ancestors enacted the Second Amendment was to ensure that the federal government could never impair the right of the American people to resist the tyranny of their own government. The idea was that if the federal government became a tyrannical regime, Americans could, if they chose, resist the tyranny with force.
In other words, the right to keep and bear arms has nothing to do with shooting deer. It has everything to do with defending one’s self and others from people who are initiating force against innocent people, such as robbers, murderers, rapists, torturers, and tyrants (and their agents).
Proponents of gun control argue that it is inconceivable that the federal government would ever become tyrannical. After all, it’s a democracy, they say. How could a democracy ever become tyrannical? We are the government, they often remind us.
There is at least one big problem with that inconceivable argument however — the fact that the federal government, led by the Pentagon and the CIA, believe in tyranny in foreign regimes. Given such, that should be cause for concern among Americans. When a regime has a policy of installing into power tyrannical regimes because it believes in tyrannical regimes, and then trains such regimes in the dark arts of tyranny, then why would it be inconceivable that such a regime would apply here at home the pro-tyranny principles it embraces abroad, especially if it felt that “national security” required it?
There are historical examples of the strong belief in tyranny that is held by the U.S. national-security establishment.
Cuba. 1950s. The U.S. government supports and partners with the brutal dictatorship of Cuban tyrant Fulgencio Batista, knowing full well that Batista has partnered with the Mafia, which is running drugs into the United States. Among the worst aspects of the Batista’s tyranny is a deal he has with the Mafia to kidnap young Cuban girls and forcibly bring them to the Mafia’s casinos so that the young girls can provide sexual services to high rollers in the casinos. U.S. officials love Batista and help him suppress any effort to oust him from power.
iran 1953. The CIA initiates a coup that destroys Iran’s experiment with democracy by ousting the democratically elected prime minister from office and replacing him with the Shah, who is unelected. The CIA then helps the Shah maintain his dictatorship by training his secret police-intelligence agency, the Savak, which is a combination FBI, CIA, and NSA, in the dark arts of torture, indefinite detention, and domestic surveillance in order to put down dissent against the Shah’s tyranny. Meanwhile, U.S. foreign aid pours into the Shah’s coffers to ensure he maintains his tyrannical hold on power. The Shah’s U.S.-supported brutal tyranny lasts until 1979, when the Iranian people finally succeed in bringing it to an end.
Guatemala 1954. The CIA destroys Guatemala’s democratic system by ousting from power the democratically elected president of the country and installing a series of military generals to rule the country. Guatemala reflects the propensity of U.S. national-security state officials to favor military tyrants to rule over their countries. The generals (and their troops) proceed to brutalize the Guatemalan citizenry, especially those who are resisting their tyranny. The civil war lasts 30 years and ends up killing, torturing, raping, or incarcerating millions of people.
Chile 1973. The CIA and Pentagon destroy Chile’s democratic system by inciting a coup that ousts the democratically elected president from power and replacing him with one of the most tyrannical military generals in history. Gen. Pinochet’s forces immediately begin rounding up their political enemies, torturing them, raping them, and committing other unspeakable sexual acts against women prisoners, all with the silent support of the Pentagon and the CIA. U.S. foreign aid floods into the country because the regime is establishing “law and order,” a favorite military theme.
Afghanistan and Iraq 2002 and 2003. While the Pentagon and the CIA remain convinced that they have brought freedom and democracy to those two countries, nothing could be further from the truth. Both countries are headed by extremely tyrannical regimes that engage in torture, indefinite detention, secret surveillance, and other dark arts of tyranny that both the Pentagon and the CIA have long favored.
Egypt 2018. The U.S. government continues to provide money and guns to the tyrannical military dictatorship that governs Egypt. The dictatorship destroyed the county’s limited experiment with democracy and will not permit elections to be held. Critics are jailed, tortured, or executed. The Pentagon and the CIA love it and continue working closely with their military counterparts to suppress any attempt to oust Egypt’s tyrannical regime.
Bahrain 2018. The U.S. government continues to partner with and support the brutal tyranny in Bahrain, where a tyrannical regime continues to jail anyone who criticizes its tyranny.
Of course, I could go on. The point is this: Given that the federal government, led by the Pentagon and the CIA, believe in tyranny abroad, how can proponents of gun control say that it is inconceivable that the Pentagon and the CIA would apply their beliefs here in the United States, especially if a “national security” emergency required it?
One thing is for sure: If Americans ever give up their guns, they will have to passively accept the types of tyrannical acts that U.S.-supported tyrants abroad have employed, including rape and other perverse sexual acts that U.S.-supported tyrants have committed against people’s wives, daughters, and mothers. If Americans retain their guns, at least they retain the ability to resist.
This article was originally published at FFF.org. Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation.
