Hkmp5s said:
The founders meant the exact same small arms the military uses. The purpose was so American citizens would have the firepower to overthrough the government should it ever become overbearing.
Precisely.
Machine guns most certainly are protected by the 2A, as are any military weapons that can be used without necessarily endangering innocent lives.
Having said that, I don't think full auto weapons are at all necessary to defend freedom. IMO, semi-auto is not only good enough, it's actually better than full-auto except at very close range. And even then, I think that if 5 rounds per second can't solve a problem, then 10 rps are unlikely to solve it, either. Oh, and even bolt actions can be devastating if used from concealment and at sufficient range.
Thus, while I find the 1986 ban highly offensive on principle, I don't see it as a threat to freedom in a general sense. But we MUST keep our semi-auto weapons
at all costs. Once those are taken from us, it's all over.
XD40Tac said:
Where does it say "the exact same small arms the military uses." Why did they limit it to small arms? Are you sure its just small arms?
It's clear from the extra-Constitutional writings of the Founders, as well as from the circumstances in which they wrote these things, that they intended for the entire population to be armed and to essentially serve as the nation's military. They believed that a standing military was dangerous to freedom, since it could be used to suppress the population.
Today, sure enough, we have a standing army and police forces at various levels of government. But that doesn't take away our right to own the weapons needed to fight back against oppression; in fact, it makes that right more important than ever.
We'll get our asses kicked if we dont have air support.
Not so -- unless we were to fight in the open, which would obviously be suicide. Guerrilla warfare is mainly about using stealth to fight against a much more powerful foe.
To use air power to take out guerrillas on its own soil, a government would have to level its own cities, causing lots of friendly and civilian casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and economic damage. It would be cutting its own throat.
Can you imagine the US government using air power to go after the "D.C. snipers," Mohammed and Malvo? The feds had no idea where they were. Although those two guys were murdering bastards, something can still be learned from them.
Finally, look at the Iraqi insurgency. Those people had no air power, either, and yet they caused a hell of a lot of trouble for the most powerful military on earth. And Iraq is obviously a much smaller country than the US. Taming an insurgency across the US would be simply impossible.