One reason why we need to fight for unrestricted gun rights

We have been hearing a lot lately about how we "gun nuts" are under the impression that we're involved in some sort of Mad Max breakdown of society situation because we oppose gun control legislation. As a matter of fact, economist Paul Krugman said that just last weekend, arguing: But we're the United States!  That couldn't possibly happen here.

The truth is, despots are never expected.  My father in law, who just celebrated his 90th birthday, and my mother in-law are Holocaust survivors, and I can tell you that they certainly never expected anything like that to happen in Europe.  In the 1920's, Germany was one of the most educated, cosmopolitan countries in the world.  There was a thriving education system, from kindergarten to university, they led the world in scientific exploration, and yet by 1933 a tyrant was able to come to power, to start a world war, and to murder millions.  They thought they were living in an enlightened society, but were disarmed by their government and led off to concentration camps.  By the time they were liberated from Auschwitz, my mother in law was left with only her mother and sister still alive and my father in law had lost his entire extended family. 

Do you really think that government abuse of power couldn't happen here?  Tell that to my in-laws who certainly didn't think it could happen to them.  Tell that to Native American children taken from their families and forced into government run indoctrination boarding schools.  Tell that to the Japanese Americans imprisoned in government run internment camps during World War II, and tell that to all the African Americans who saw friends and family members lynched throughout the south because they did not have the same access to firearms with which to defend themselves as whites. 

Frankly, the move to a totalitarian government is not as large a step as you would hope.  For Germany, it was an economic depression and a huge social welfare obligation that led many to a sense of hopelessness and a desire to "blame someone".  What is it that totalitarian governments do to protect their positions? We need only look to history.  It starts with the passing of laws to restrict the ownership of firearms and the institution of universal registration all in the name of "safety", then comes disarming the citizenry, and finally extermination. That is why our founding fathers included an unrestricted right to bear arms so prominently in the Constitution, right after the right to freedom of speech, association, and religion.  The right to bear arms is a Constitutional right and should not require a license – just as you cannot require a license to practice religion or express freedom of speech.