J.D. Tuccille
Why does anybody need an assault weapon? Because they want it
But really, that’s all irrelevant. Because in free societies, you don’t have to justify owning things. You get to own them because you want them and have the means to acquire them. And you get to acquire more than just the basic necessities, if you so choose.
As I look around my office, I see a lot of stuff I don’t need. There are two dogs aggressively shedding on the upholstery, a hat collection (panamas and vintage fedoras), CDs and DVDs, a shit-load of books …If I owned only what I need, I’d be living in a spartan efficiency apartment, wearing a Mao suit and eating gruel. I have no interest in living that way.
Blowback
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Exactly.
Well, that and the fact that the citizenry should be capable of removing its government by box number four (soap, ballot, jury, ammo) if necessary.
ProfShadow on January 18, 2013 at 4:23 PM
None of your f’ing business.
platypus on January 18, 2013 at 4:24 PM
If 0bama and the Democratic party get their way, that’s exactly how you and I will be living.
Today, it’s “nobody needs a 30 round ‘clip‘”.
Tomorrow, it’s “nobody needs more than one pair of shoes.”
UltimateBob on January 18, 2013 at 4:24 PM
Exacty! Why does someone need golf clubs or a ski boat? If the libs want to determine what someone is allowed to own based strictly on what that person needs, there are going to be a lot of unhappy libs.
txsurveyor on January 18, 2013 at 4:25 PM
Capitalist Roader, you should be and will be….the Laws of Dialectic Materialism demand it!
It is just this sort of bourgeois materialism that has led to our Mega-Technic, Gaia-raping, Hetero-Normal Phallicracy that Oppresses Gays, Lesbians, Bi-Sexuals, the Transgendered, Womyn, People of Colour, and the Poor.
It must all be undone….for you guyz, me I still think I deserve a steak now and again.
JFKY on January 18, 2013 at 4:27 PM
I want a missle and a tank.
Pablo Honey on January 18, 2013 at 4:27 PM
Ban high-capacity closets!
The Rogue Tomato on January 18, 2013 at 4:28 PM
No one needs a double chin, but that doesn’t stop union leaders from getting them.
2lbsTest on January 18, 2013 at 4:30 PM
Why does anyone need a car that can go 100mph?
ctmom on January 18, 2013 at 4:30 PM
You know how many high speed deaths occur in this country?!
HIGH HORSEPOWER BAN
blatantblue on January 18, 2013 at 4:31 PM
Trumka has more chins than a Chinese phone book.
UltimateBob on January 18, 2013 at 4:32 PM
DO IT FOR THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!
UltimateBob on January 18, 2013 at 4:33 PM
This highlights the ugly little truth the Oppressives and the Dear Liar would like to hide.
They don’t want a free society.
They don’t want you to be able to choose how you defend your family, the kind of truck you drive or where you live.
They are abjectly against those kinds of Liberties and freedoms.
But they can’t come out and say that, can they?
So they hide behind children to implement their tyranny.
Galt2009 on January 18, 2013 at 4:34 PM
So when Americans finally have had one too many in a long line of offenses against their freedom they will have inferior weapons to those fielded by the police and military in order to succeed in bringing the Goliath of King George to bear.
astonerii on January 18, 2013 at 4:39 PM
That’s the point of a right, you tool! We decide, you don’t!
This is the most basic principle of liberty, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why we even continue to have conversations like this.
Take a lesson from this article: STOP DEBATING THEM ON THE NEED FOR THINGS. Stop debating them on ANYTHING until the terms of the debate are properly established. Because until they come to understand what constitutes a “right”, nothing else will matter because they will assume the right to abrogate your freedom to live as you choose.
And if they decide to go wishy-washy on what it means to have a right, boom, they just gave away abortion and gay marriage.
The Schaef on January 18, 2013 at 4:40 PM
I think you should be allowed to have it. The best reason for ownership of arms for the civilian is to prevent GOVERNMENT from taking their God given rights.
astonerii on January 18, 2013 at 4:42 PM
Why does my wife needs so many shoes?
Ellis on January 18, 2013 at 4:45 PM
YOU GO TOO FAR!
ctmom on January 18, 2013 at 5:01 PM
Zing!
Washington Nearsider on January 18, 2013 at 5:02 PM
The citizenry of American Patriots should never be at an armament disadvantage; the Second Amendment protects from government infringement the natural rights, duties and responsibilities of the people to keep and bear as much and as powerful arms and ammunition as is necessary to defeat government forces in a confrontation, if necessary.
Tripwhipper on January 18, 2013 at 5:06 PM
I assume you mean a REAL assault weapon. Not one of these pansy ass plastic thingies. It’s not that I really want them, but I really NEED them to protect my liberties.
TexAz on January 18, 2013 at 5:08 PM
Great column!
deepdiver on January 18, 2013 at 5:08 PM
Colbyjack on January 18, 2013 at 5:12 PM
Because they can.
The Obamas say it every day.
Schadenfreude on January 18, 2013 at 5:17 PM
Because we’re free men. It’s just that simple. The government doesn’t get to say, “You don’t need that.” We’re free to get it if we want it.
And if there’s ever a question about whether we have freedom to do a certain thing, the Constitution answers the question. In this case, the Second Amendment.
BTW, I’m also free to have a 30-round magazine if I want it.
There Goes The Neighborhood on January 18, 2013 at 5:23 PM
Exactly – that’s parking speed!
OldEnglish on January 18, 2013 at 5:23 PM
Google tanks for sale and just for fun try jets and submarines.
RickB on January 18, 2013 at 5:46 PM
Gonna say Pablo, I USED to laugh at gun nutz, just like you do…HOWEVER, in the intervening time I have seen evidence, heard constitutional/legal arguments, and seen the failure of gun control AND the nasty condescension and near-Fascism of Control Proponents.
Bottom-Line: in a choice between Obama’s/Cuomo’s America and an America where Pablo Honey can legally own an M-1 or a HAWK SAM….I’m opting for Pablo Honey with the SAM…as long as you can pay for it.
JFKY on January 18, 2013 at 6:11 PM
It’s called The Bill of Rights, not The Bill of Needs.
RadClown on January 18, 2013 at 6:11 PM
As someone posted on another blog, did Rosa Parks teally need to sit at the front of the bus?
AcidReflux on January 18, 2013 at 6:13 PM
You joke because you know how you are, and you tease because you’re absolutely positive of what you’d do with them.
Hint: Just because it’s hard for you to resist violence doesn’t mean that’s how everyone else is.
(Same with choosing to buy ipads over health insurance, frankly.)
An armed missile and/or tank would be no more dangerous than a paring knife at my house.
rogerb on January 18, 2013 at 6:18 PM
Arguably, LESS dangerous…do you know the maintenance burden placed on tank crews?
JFKY on January 18, 2013 at 7:05 PM