Guns in America

[jeffnc]

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I'm not sure you understand modern warfare as well as you seem to think you do. See Vietnam, Afghanistan (Soviet primarily), Iraq, and other examples of how a well armed population can be an absolute bitch to forcibly coerce even in the face of very modern armies.

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But I don't think you understand the point that was being made. It's not a question of "forcibly coercing" someone. It's the fact that you cannot escape a tyranny (or overthrow it) just because you have guns. In other words, restricting the right to vote does not require forcibly coercing anyone. You simply don't hold a vote, and no one has the strength to overthrow you if you own the armed forces of the country.

Obviously this doesn't hold if a country is in complete disorder (like Iraq for example.) But that is not part of the natural evolution of a country - that was a "catastrophic event" caused by an outside influence. A modern government in stable control cannot lose power simply because its citizens own guns.