Gun control: Difference between revisions

Many opponents of gun control consider [[Self-defense (theory)|self-defense]] to be a fundamental and [[Natural rights|unalienable]] [[human right]] and believe that firearms are an important tool in the exercise of this right. They consider the prohibition of an effective means of self-defense to be [[Ethics|unethical]]. For instance, in [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s "Commonplace Book," a quote from [[Cesare Beccaria]] reads, <blockquote>"laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes ... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."<ref name="Story 1986 pp. 319-320">Story,Joseph, "A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States". 1986, Regnery Gateway, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 319-320, ISBN 0-89526-796-9.</ref><ref>Hardy, David T. "The origins and Development of the Second Amendment". 1986, Blacksmith Corp., Chino Valley, Arizona, pp. 1-78, ISBN 0-941540-13-8.</ref><ref>Halbrook, Stephen P. "That Every Man be Armed-The Evolution of a Constitutional Right". 1987, The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, pp. 1-88, ISBN 0-8263-0868-6.</ref></blockquote>

Among the anti-Semitic laws, regulations, and acts of civil violence enacted by the Nazi regime against Germans whom it considered Jewish were restrictions of weapon ownership,{{sfn|Harcourt|2004|p=671}}<ref name=Rummel>Rummel,RJ, Death by Government (1994) Transaction Publishers, New Jersey, pp. 111-122, ISBN 1-56000-145-3.</ref>{{sfn|Halbrook|2000|p=509-513}} and these were used by Hitler's government to disarm the Jewish population.<ref name=Rummel/>{{sfn|Halbrook|2000|p=509-513}}<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=9Z-nv-sCMBYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Courts,+Law,+and+Justice&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5mjAUfzTKqGEiALA_IHoCA&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=nazi&f=false | title=Courts Law and Justice | accessdate=2013-06-18 | pages=119}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=42nAUdDqPKKOigKsxYCACw&id=uXnZAAAAMAAJ&dq=complete+history+of+the+holocaust&q=weapons#search_anchor | title=A Complete History of the Holocaust | accessdate=2013-06-18}} page68</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KAAF8jtI6EUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=48+hours+of+kristallnacht&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cWrAUZjrKOSKiALry4H4Ag&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=weapons&f=false | title=48 Hours of Kristallnacht}}pages 9,33,82</ref>{{sfn|Polsby|Kates|1997|p=1237}}<ref>{{cite book | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QeGJH48PT0kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Guns+in+American+Society,+An+Encyclopedia+of+History,+Politics,+Culture,+and+the+Law.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QRyyUuDQO8fIyAGW4oCIDA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=germany&f=false | title=Guns in American Society, An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law}} Sec 2, G Germany, Gun Laws</ref> The Nazi ''Weapons Law'' of March 18, 1938 relaxed gun control requirements for the general population, but prohibited ownership, possession, sale, and manufacturing of firearms and ammunition by [[Jews]].{{sfn|Harcourt|2004|p=671}} During the initial reports of events that would later be called [[Kristallnacht]] on November 9 and 10, 1938, the Police President of Berlin had announced that police activity in the preceding few weeks had disarmed the entire Jewish population of Berlin by confiscating 2,569 of their hand weapons, 1,702 firearms and 20,000 rounds of ammunition.<ref>{{cite news|title=NAZIS ASK REPRISAL IN ATTACK ON ENVOY; Press Links Shooting in Paris to 'World Conspiracy' and Warns Jews of Retaliation MASS EXPULSIONS FEARED Berlin Police Head Announces 'Disarming' of Jews--Victim of Shots in Critical State New Fear Aroused Round-up in Vienna Diplomat's Condition Critical|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9404EFDD1331E03ABC4153DFB7678383629EDE&scp=2&sq=Helldorf&st=p|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 9, 1938}}</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=ZXm3Klg95s0C&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176&dq=NAZIS+ASK+REPRISAL+IN+ATTACK+ON+ENVOY+kristallnacht&source=bl&ots=9EoOB4nK3J&sig=Fi5lAlI78Vx3xemjB48CFZtzn74&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5uknUdWsCaWUiQLN6IGIDQ&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=NAZIS%20ASK%20REPRISAL%20IN%20ATTACK%20ON%20ENVOY%20kristallnacht&f=false Kristallnacht 1938 - Alan E Steinweis - Google Books<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Shortly thereafter, with the addition of the ''Regulations Against Jews' Possession of Weapons'' of November 11, 1938, Jews were forbidden from possession of any weapons at all.{{sfn|Halbrook|2000|p=509-513}}{{sfn|Harcourt|2004|p=671}}