Which is more important

[josh]

Just a little research to see how my fellow pennsylvanians view things. Namely what is most important to them.Im betting a lot of people never considered it. Any participation is appreciated.

[LorDiego01]

I find it funny that the great majority of people dont really understand the true concept of "freedom".

Hint- The Government won't give it to you.

[GRIZZLYBEAR]

That's a no brainer:

Freedom and Liberty

grizz

[josh]

Originally Posted by LorDiego01

I find it funny that the great majority of people dont really understand the true concept of "freedom".

Hint- The Government won't give it to you.

Im pretty sure Im with you. Care to elaborate?

[phillyd2]

A very interesting question to ponder.

Of course the easy answer is Freedom and Liberty. But do we really mean it? If the police came to our homes to arrest us would we really die before going with them? If one put a gun to our head and ordered us to hand over our gun, would we really? I mean really!

Do we really mean Live Free or Die? Look at all our current laws, big and small, and how do we act? Not allowed to carry in NJ? Do we still or do we leave the gun at home? Seatbelt laws? No Smoking?

Seems to me most of us grit our teeth, curse the state and then comply.

Live Free or Die?

Well, at least it looks good on a bumper sticker.

[TonyF]

Originally Posted by phillyd2

A very interesting question to ponder.

Of course the easy answer is Freedom and Liberty. But do we really mean it? If the police came to our homes to arrest us would we really die before going with them? If one put a gun to our head and ordered us to hand over our gun, would we really? I mean really!

Do we really mean Live Free or Die? Look at all our current laws, big and small, and how do we act? Not allowed to carry in NJ? Do we still or do we leave the gun at home? Seatbelt laws? No Smoking?

Seems to me most of us grit our teeth, curse the state and then comply.

Live Free or Die?

Well, at least it looks good on a bumper sticker.

It depends. Are we talking about slow, incremental abridgements of our civil liberties or an abrupt and complete suspension of our Constitution? The people of this nation did fight a revolution once upon a time so I would say the inclination to do so again is imbedded in our subconscious.

OTOH, I have no doubts that most of the macho, chest beating, "from my cold dead hands* crowd would hand over their firearms with not much more than a wimper. It's easy to *say* these things but in reality they're much harder to *do*. Here's a twist, instead of holding a gun to your head, what if they were holding a gun to your wife or child's head? Would you be willing to sacrifice their lives?

Gun confiscation doesn't necessarily preclude the possibility of armed revolution. Let's not forget the existence of millions of firearms in this country. If push ever does come to shove ......

[rwilson452]

I spent the first 20 years of my adult life putting my body on the line to protect and defend the constitution. Would I willingly give me life for freedom and liberty, Yes. Would i willingly thow my life away for no possible positive outcome? no. That's just another form of suicide. given the example of some "authority" going door to door collecting private arms, My choice would be to not be there when they get to my door. My arms and I would be "In the wind".

[LorDiego01]

Originally Posted by TonyF

OTOH, I have no doubts that most of the macho, chest beating, "from my cold dead hands* crowd would hand over their firearms with not much more than a wimper. It's easy to *say* these things but in reality they're much harder to *do*. Here's a twist, instead of holding a gun to your head, what if they were holding a gun to your wife or child's head? Would you be willing to sacrifice their lives?

There is a difference between going out in a "hail of glory" for what you believe, and surviving to fight another day.

I'd choose to survive to fight another day. Thats the tactically superior alternative.

[Suburban]

The Macho, chest-beating, shoot the confiscators at the door might be more extreme than most people would go, but I think a lot of handguns would be reported stolen, and rifles will be reported as "sold to an idividual a few months ago, I forget what his name was now."

Is anyone still selling those tubes for burying your guns in the backyard?

[josh]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the comments.
This is exactly the type of thing I have pondered long and hard. I personally have become less and less tolerant of the theft of my Liberty. I honestly have always beena little more prone to violence when threaten or imposed upon than most . So if only my well being is at stake I have no problem fighting for my liberty. But as was mentioned what about my wife and son? If we submit to attacks on our liberty to protect the lives of our loved ones are we doing them a service? What is life without liberty? Much of my desire to have true freedom and liberty is for my son to have a better life. But at what cost?
This question is not as easy as it first apears. But the founding fathers had to make this very same decision.

For me i believe we should undertake activism and peaceful means fo protest in striving for liberty.
If any situation turns violent ,such as the authoritarian attacks on the residents of N.O, each individual will have to make the decison based on his circumstances. Proclamations such as "from my cold dead hands mean little" as it is rarely the people making the proclamations who are in a situation to live up to them. I doubt there was much posturing of this type by the victims of ruby ridge and waco. I never heard of anyone kicking in charlton hestons door to steal his multi thousand dollar sporting rifles.

just something to think about.