From My Cold, Dead Hands! :: essays research papers

"From My Cold, Dead Hands!" When anyone mentions â€Å"gun control,† it makes me cringe with disbelief. It is impossible for me to understand why people want to (and might some day) take away my right to gun ownership. They defend their cases by using examples of school shootings and gang violence; this is unremarkably insane to me. The idea that today’s politicians could change the laws of our great land by using the examples of a few misguided youngsters brings back into view other leaders who have done the same. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Mao Tse-tung, and Pol Pot were powerful tyrants. After taking power, these men took all guns from the civilian population. Our own government has been taking the necessary steps to abolish the second amendment. Owning a gun is a right not a privilege. We, as citizens, have to protect our rights to gun ownership so we can protect ourselves if necessary. James Madison, stated, "I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." (http://www.kc3.com/editorial/freedom_or_gun_control.htm) Changes are made slowly so that the general population doesn’t notice what is happening until the changes are made. For instance, Lenin started out his carrier with everyone looking at him as a great respectable leader. But, over the 6 years of Lenin’s dictatorship more and more evidence of his cruelty emerged. Most people of his time still believed the notion of the â€Å"good Lenin† and the â€Å"bad Stalin.† When in reality few of Stalin’s policies were without roots in Leninism: Lenin built the first concentration camps; Lenin, who disbanded the last vestige of democratic government, the Constituent Assembly, devised the Communist Party as the apex of a totalitarian structure; Lenin, who first waged war on the intelligentsia and on religious believers, wiped out any traces of civil liberty and a free press. In his short reign, from 1917 until his death in 1924, Lenin created a model not merely for his successor, Stalin, but for Mao tse-tung, Hit ler, and Pol Pot; three of the worst tyrants the world has ever seen. (Remnick, http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/lenin.html) Thomas Jefferson once stated, "When the people fear the government you have tyranny... when the government fears the people you have liberty." (http://www.chvanilla.net/frogquotes.html) Tyranny, it has happened before and will happen again. It is up to us to take a stand, to hold the government back.