[TheForge] criminal bkgnd, 1st, 2nd amend's etc

[Jack Elliott]

"out side of blacksmithing"
Funny you should use this wording. Because I was just saying to  
myself as I opened this latest string of drivel that I've been a  
member of this list for about a month and haven't seen a damned word  
about blacksmithing yet. So, at this point, I'm guessing this whole  
group is "outside of blacksmithing."
As for the whole 2nd amendment argument...
The federal government was not intended to keep a standing army of  
any kind, except in times of war. Which is why the continental army  
was disbanded following the revolution.
The framers (the majority of them at least) did not want the central  
government to be able to use that kind of tool against the member  
states.
Some, Like Hamilton, disagreed. It wasn't until Teddy Roosevelt that  
the concept of a standing United States Army took hold.
And because state militias were volunteer based, and not tax funded  
(except in times of need) were expected to have and provide their own  
equipment, including their arms.
Case in point:
When the U.S. entered WWI, the army did not have, nor could it get,  
enough weapons to supply the number of enlistees. So volunteers were  
often asked to provide their own weapons and the government would  
provide the ammunition. This worked fine, except that many a redneck  
showed up with a 12ga. pump, for which they were provided with  
buckshot. That also worked fine. to the point when the Germans lost  
it was one of their major complaints about how the war was conducted  
(interesting considering their use of mustard gas, but still) and was  
one of the concessions in the original league of nations that led to  
what is now NATO and its respective rules of engagement. We still  
today severely limit the use of this weapon on the battlefield.
And yes, we were a much more polite society when you didn't know who  
might have a gun in his pocket.
It's been fun, but it isn't why I signed up.



On Jan 29, 2009, at 11:27 AM, GRAF wrote:

> JA I can understand how you feel, but I'd like to add a counterpoint.
> This list provides on a regular basis some of the best
> point/counterpoint discussions on things, out side of blacksmithing,
> that I run across.
> Perhaps it is because it is on a list about something else that these
> subjects ring more true to me than on "alt.righttoownguns or
> alt.theworldisending"
>
> Knowing these folks in the blacksmithing realm helps to make me  
> look at
> the arguments in a slightly different way. Therein  is some sort of
> education.
>
> Mike Graf
>
> Cindy and James wrote:
>> surely this discussion has gone on long enough
>>
>> why don't you guys/gals swap email addresses and blather each other
>> privately about this?
>>
>> JA
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