There is too much anti- government paranoia floating around, but I would not tally McVeigh to NRA's list of faults, the Militias would exist without the NRA, which does not condone vigilantism. I cringed when people speculated about Clinton using Y2K turmoil as a pretext for declaring martial law, although there was not much of that around here. However, some amount of suspiciousness of government is as American as apple pie. We are supposed to worry about corruption and unchecked power. That is one reason we have political stability in this country, because we are watchful.
We do not, in fact, rely on the police for defense. That is avowedly not their mission. There mission is the enforcement of laws that have been broken. They come on the scene when the horse is out of the barn. They do not act as bodyguards, or watchmen, and only minimally protect the citizenry with drive- throughs and such. Self- defense remains a right and even duty for every citizen, as they see fit. However, the main mechanism of defense is not to draw down, but the knowledge that arms may complicate the malefactors life. Criminals do not ordinarily like risk.
As for foreign invasion, it is unlikely to come to that, of course, but not outside the question, and it makes for some lively movies. I do not think it factors heavily into the thinking of most people, even those who like guns. |
