Where We're Headed
> By Robert A. Waters
> **********
> You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door.
> Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers. At
> least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way. With
> your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your
shotgun.
> You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it.
>
> In the darkness, you make out two shadows. One holds a weapon--it looks
> like a crowbar. When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise
> the shotgun and fire. The blast knocks both thugs to the floor. One
writhes
> and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches
> outside. As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you're in
> trouble.
>
> In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that
are
> privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless.
Yours
> was never registered.
>
> Police arrive and inform you that the second burglar has died. They arrest
> you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm.
>
> When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities
will
> probably plea the case down to manslaughter.
>
> "What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask. "Only ten-to-twelve years,"
he
> replies, as if that's nothing. "Behave yourself, and you'll be out in
> seven."
>
> The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper.
> Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you
> shot are represented as choir boys. Their friends and relatives can't find
> an unkind word to say about them. Buried deep down in the article,
> authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous
> times.
>
> But the next day's headline says it all: "Lovable Rogue Son Didn't deserve
> to Die." The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into
Robin
> Hood-type pranksters.
>
>
> As the days wear on, the story takes wings. The national media picks it
up,
> then the international media. The surviving burglar has become a folk
hero.
> Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he'll probably
> win. The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized
> several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police
for
> their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects.
>
> After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared
> next time. The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying
in
> wait for the burglars.
>
>
> A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven't been reduced, as
> your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand, your
> anger at the injustice of it all works against you.
>
> Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn't
take
> long for the jury to convict you of all charges. The judge sentences you
to
> life in prison.
>
>
> This case really happened.
>
> On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk, England, killed one
> burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now
> serving a life term.
>
>
> How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once-great
British
> Empire?
>
> It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law
> forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun
> sales were to be made only to those who had a license.
>
> The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns
but
> all firearms except shotguns. Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed
> the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the
registration
> of all shotguns. Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest
> after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987.
>
> Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked
down
> the streets shooting everyone he saw.
>
> When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.
>
> The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun
control",
> demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned
> handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.
>
>
> Nine years later, at Dunblane, Scotland, Thomas Hamilton used a
> semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public
> school.
>
>
> For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally
unstable,
> or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up
> law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up
> all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The
> Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearms
> still owned by private citizens.
>
>
> During the years in which the British government incrementally took away
> most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed
> self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant
> gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was
> no longer considered a reason to own a gun.
>
> Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the
real
> criminals were released. Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police
> spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into
> their own hands."
>
>
> All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several
> elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no
> fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had
seen
> most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.
>
>
>
> When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given
> three months to turn them over to local authorities. Being good British
> subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by
> police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't
comply.
>
> Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from
private
> citizens.
>
> How did the authorities know who had handguns?
>
> The guns had been registered and licensed. Kinda like cars. Sound
familiar?
>
> WAKE UP AMERICA, THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT
> IN OUR CONSTITUTION.
> By Robert A. Waters
> **********
> You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door.
> Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers. At
> least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way. With
> your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your
shotgun.
> You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it.
>
> In the darkness, you make out two shadows. One holds a weapon--it looks
> like a crowbar. When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise
> the shotgun and fire. The blast knocks both thugs to the floor. One
writhes
> and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches
> outside. As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you're in
> trouble.
>
> In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that
are
> privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless.
Yours
> was never registered.
>
> Police arrive and inform you that the second burglar has died. They arrest
> you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm.
>
> When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities
will
> probably plea the case down to manslaughter.
>
> "What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask. "Only ten-to-twelve years,"
he
> replies, as if that's nothing. "Behave yourself, and you'll be out in
> seven."
>
> The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper.
> Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you
> shot are represented as choir boys. Their friends and relatives can't find
> an unkind word to say about them. Buried deep down in the article,
> authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous
> times.
>
> But the next day's headline says it all: "Lovable Rogue Son Didn't deserve
> to Die." The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into
Robin
> Hood-type pranksters.
>
>
> As the days wear on, the story takes wings. The national media picks it
up,
> then the international media. The surviving burglar has become a folk
hero.
> Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he'll probably
> win. The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized
> several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police
for
> their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects.
>
> After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared
> next time. The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying
in
> wait for the burglars.
>
>
> A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven't been reduced, as
> your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand, your
> anger at the injustice of it all works against you.
>
> Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn't
take
> long for the jury to convict you of all charges. The judge sentences you
to
> life in prison.
>
>
> This case really happened.
>
> On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk, England, killed one
> burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now
> serving a life term.
>
>
> How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once-great
British
> Empire?
>
> It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law
> forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun
> sales were to be made only to those who had a license.
>
> The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns
but
> all firearms except shotguns. Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed
> the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the
registration
> of all shotguns. Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest
> after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987.
>
> Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked
down
> the streets shooting everyone he saw.
>
> When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.
>
> The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun
control",
> demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned
> handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.
>
>
> Nine years later, at Dunblane, Scotland, Thomas Hamilton used a
> semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public
> school.
>
>
> For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally
unstable,
> or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up
> law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up
> all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The
> Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearms
> still owned by private citizens.
>
>
> During the years in which the British government incrementally took away
> most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed
> self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to grant
> gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was
> no longer considered a reason to own a gun.
>
> Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the
real
> criminals were released. Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police
> spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into
> their own hands."
>
>
> All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several
> elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no
> fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had
seen
> most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.
>
>
>
> When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given
> three months to turn them over to local authorities. Being good British
> subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by
> police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't
comply.
>
> Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from
private
> citizens.
>
> How did the authorities know who had handguns?
>
> The guns had been registered and licensed. Kinda like cars. Sound
familiar?
>
> WAKE UP AMERICA, THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT
> IN OUR CONSTITUTION.