The right to bear arms derives from three more basic rights.
The first is the right to hunt. If you don't choose to hunt I'm cool with that. I've never hunted. But human beings have been hunting for thousands, if not millions of years. Animal products have been used for food, clothing and shelter. I have just as much right to hunt as any Bushman. He may use a poisoned dart. I'll use a rifle.
The second right is self defense. If you don't choose to defend yourself, I'm cool with that. Firearms are excellent tools for self defense. In nineteen out of twenty cases, simply brandishing the firearm is sufficient to defend oneself against a crime. If a bear has the right to kill to protect its cubs, I have the right to protect my children with deadly force.
The third right is the right to revolt when your government is too oppressive. If you don't choose to revolt, I'm cool with that. Firearms are quite useful for this. African-Americans have successfully defended themselves against the local sheriff (the government) and his Klu-Klux-Klan buddies many times this way. If you read the Second Amendment and its history you will see that this is the only reason the Founding Fathers gave for it. As successful revolutionaries against an oppressive government, they wanted to protect their successors right to do so when needed.
As I've said, you don't have to exercise these three basic rights if you don't want to. So far I have not needed to do so. But I want to keep and bear a firearm in case I ever do need to exercise them. I doubt I will have such a need, but I also exercise the right to preserve it for future generations. A right which is not protected will often perish. As a free man, not a slave, this is my duty.
(This was a comment I posted to this post. Congratualations, I just voted for you in the Showcase.)
