“History is for human self-knowledge…the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is.”
― R.G. Collingwood
It’s been said hundreds of times over, some ways poetically and some not as much, that the purpose of continually studying our history is to gain insight from it. We are to learn to not repeat the mistakes of our predecessors and to emulate their successes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work in such a way. A Washington Times article which we found very intriguing reminded us that history may be repeating itself in the form of events which began 75 years ago. The article, titled “HALBROOK: What made the Nazi Holocaust possible? Gun control” talks about Kristallnacht, or the Night of the Broken Glass, which was a Nazi pogrom against the Jewish people who were taken into Gestapo custody and put into concentration camps for owning guns. Jews had been forbidden to own guns and told to give them up by decree of law as they were viewed by the German government as being a threat to the German people. When the German Nazis came to arrest the Jews, the Jews found themselves defenseless.
There have been more than a few voices which have drawn comparisons from the events of the Holocaust and Hitler’s gun control to the Obama Administration and his attempts at banning “assault weapons.” The assault weapons ban failed, but other regulations did successfully get put into place on state levels. One example includes the high capacity magazine ban in the state of Colorado which created quite a stir. Another was the SAFE Act which was enacted in New York which includes the registration of certain firearms and a ban on various magazines. New York currently has some of the most strict gun laws in the nation. Of course, none of these acts have yet reached the level of outright seizure of large numbers of firearms. And despite the national tragedies we’ve experienced, none were caused by the government attacking its own people as was done during the Holocaust. The Holocaust is remembered as a time of great tragedy in our history. Many wonder how something so catastrophic could have ever happened and feel certain that nothing like that could ever happen again. However, we’d be foolish and definitely not garnering anything from history if we believed that corrupt men or women will not come to power and then use that power against the people.
We need to continually work to preserve our Second Amendment rights. It is only by remaining steadfast to the protection of all the rights granted to us by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution that we can remain a free people in a free country. Thankfully, we have organizations, such as the NRA, which dedicate their time and energy to keeping the right to bear arms alive and well. It takes an effort of many motivated people who are willing to work to ensure that we maintain our freedoms. As Americans, we’ve been blessed with opportunities which shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Abraham Lincoln said in his famous Gettysburg Address that the “government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” No words were mentioned about a government of a person to control the people. What are your thoughts on the historical comparisons? Is thinking to compare the Obama Administration to the Third Reich a far leap? Or should the citizens of the United States brace themselves for what could be a large impact?
Much speculation has been drawn based on what Obama has already done, not just in his attempts with gun control but also with the implementation of Obamacare which is considered by many to be a socialist program, and what his future plans still entail during the remainder of his time in office. Is a guns confiscation possible in the USA as we have seen in other European countries? If so, would the Obama Administration even be the cause of such events? Would it be the catalyst for major civil unrest? We’d certainly like to think it will not happen, but we don’t want to leave any stone unturned. What are your insights? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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