When Guns are Outlawed . . .

Perhaps you remember the bumper sticker that says, "When Guns are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Guns". It's a statement that a civil power which robs us of the means of self defense is not on our side.

Proscription of weapons has been a standard practice of tyrants, however, since long before the invention of firearms. The Philistines banned weapons and the means to make them in Israel:

Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. (1Sa 13:19)

Deolexrex recently sent me a link to an article that traces the origins of karate as a resistance movement against Japanese tyranny. Here is the link:

The Unintended Consequences of Despotism.

Perhaps the bumper sticker should read: "When Guns are Outlawed, Freedom Loving Martialists Will Take Guns away from Their Oppressors." Maybe it's too long to fit on the bumper of my Toyota. ;-)