There is literally zero doubt that the Founding Fathers visualized an armed citizenry as a bulwark against government overreach and tyranny. The fear of an overpowering central government supported by a standing army was very, very real to the Founders. Within the lives of their grandfathers, they had seen Oliver Cromwell convert his victorious New Model Army into an instrument of political and social oppression during his Protectorate, particularly the Rule of the Major Generals. They were well aware of the biennial Mutiny Acts which forbade the British army from owning its own transport, using certain roads, and from entering chartered cities without approval of the city government.

History aside, the gun-grabbers, since the Heller decision recognized the Second Amendment as the individual right that it is rather than some kind of bastardized group right, have been struggling to come up with an excuse to undercut the right to bear arms that will fit within the law of the land. What they have turned to is the argument that the Second Amendment is archaic. That, yeah, it might have once been true that a citizen militia could defeat a well-equipped and well-trained military but that is no longer the case. The Booker-esque loser from California, Eric Swalwell once addressed the issue of an armed citizenry being a brake on a tyrannical government this way:

And it would be a short war my friend. The government has nukes. Too many of them. But they’re legit. I’m sure if we talked we could find common ground to protect our families and communities.

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) November 16, 2018

That’s right, Swalwell actually said that if the citizens got too frisky they would be nuked by their own government. Since that time, this argument has been a staple among the left on Twitter. It was trotted out again by Joe Biden this past weekend:

“Folks, don’t apologize at all about the Second Amendment,” Biden advised, explaining how the amendment allows for limitations on who can own a weapon and what type. “These guys will tell you, the tree of liberty is watered with the blood of patriots. Give me a break.”

“Can you go out and buy a flamethrower? Can you go out and buy an F-15?” he added. “If you want to protect yourself against the federal government, you’re going to need at least an F-15.”

Well, actually you can buy a flamethrower.

Yes on the flamethrower pic.twitter.com/xC0IYMmpIz

— philxb (@Philxb) August 10, 2019

I guess he doesn't realize that flamethrowers are not and never have been illegal. Hell Elon Musk company sold them on their website for a while..

— TheLastRoman (@offcamber) August 12, 2019

What is rather unique about Biden’s statement is that he’s clearly dismissive of the origins of the Second Amendment. He seems blithely unaware of the unhappy fate of armies confronted with widespread resistance and he also seems cheerfully eager to use force to confiscate weapons.

https://twitter.com/alx/status/1158861625883017217

With great regularity, technologically superior armies who lacked political will have been laid low by smaller and more inferior armies because the larger army lacked the will. One prime example is the Irish War of Independence. Other examples more painfully close to home in time are Vietnam and Afghanistan. The very fact that a popular revolt MIGHT happen often encourages an out-of-control government to act responsibly…here I’m thinking of the various run-ins the Bundys of Nevada have had with the feds over the years. The tack taken by Biden and Swalwell also assumes that the Armed Forces would actually participate in an effort to confiscate firearms or that they would turn their firepower on their fellow citizens. My belief is that any situation that required the military to take arms against millions of their countrymen would soon find the military voting “present” if not actively defecting and collaborating.

All that aside, Biden’s logic simply doesn’t exist. The presence of a large mass of armed citizens in the “unorganized militia of the United States” [see 10 U.S. Code § 246. Militia: composition and classes] is both a safety net in the case of insurrection or invasion and a safeguard of the Constitution in the face of an oppressive federal or state government. There is no requirement that a regular force be met weapon system for weapon system, for, as they say, it isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, it is size of the fight in the dog. Any cause large enough to unleash the military upon the citizenry is going to have an immediate, strong, and deleterious effect upon the military organization that is supposed to carry out the orders.

https://twitter.com/streiffredstate/status/1160346402779750405

Speaking after the clash, Governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement.

Gage blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices. The governor, who described the group’s organizers as “criminals,” just issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government’s efforts to secure law and order.

The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed wide-spread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault weapons.

Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early this month between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that “none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily.”

Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government’s plans.

During a tense standoff in the Lexington town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists.

Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange.

Ironically, the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored, armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the guard units.

Colonel Smith, finding his forces over matched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat.

Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint task force in its effort to restore law and order.

The governor also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government troops.

Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, who have been identified as “ringleaders” of the extremist faction, remain at large.

And this fellow Americans, is how the American Revolution began, April 20, 1775.

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