THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

On April 28th 1996, a maniac in Australia shot 35 people in Port Arthur. Capitalizing in the typical knee-jerk reaction way, the government enacted a draconian gun ban law.

Just 12 months after those gun ban laws went into effect in Australia, homicides jumped 3.2%, armed robberies jumped 44% (!), assaults jumped 8.6% and in the state of Victoria there was a 300% increase in homicides.

Three hundred percent.

Prior to the new dictatorial anti-gun laws, crime statistics in Australia showed a steady decrease in armed robberies with firearms; following the gun ban, there was a dramatic increase in break-ins. In 1998, in the state of South Australia, robbery with a firearm increased nearly 60%. In 1999, assault rates in the state of New South Wales rose 20%.

This is significant evidence that contradicts what any government says when they want to disarm the general populace; "Crime will go down. You will be safer." The government propaganda machine repeats the mantra until people choke on it and finally begin to regurgitate it, convinced that they are thinking for themselves rather than parroting the government spin.

But in the end, this is not really about crime. History shows us exactly why the 2nd Amendment was written. One need only look at why the initial colonies were formed. The colonists were desperate to get out from under the oppressive reign of George III and the Church of England, which had entrenched itself deeply enough to influence every aspect of government.

In short, the colonists were the general populace. They were simple people who believed that everyone had certain rights and they took a stand. Had they been unarmed, they would have been crushed by their King's forces and the United States would not exist as it does today. Therefore, it is the shortest leap of logic to conclude why the 2nd Amendment was added to the Constitution. Any argument to the contrary demonstrates an absurd ignorance of history.