• In a democracy, governmental authority derives from consent of the governed. If it is not functionally possible for a populace to withdraw its consent from its government, then its “consent” is meaningless. Therefore, democracy requires that the populace be capable of overthrowing its government. In a country where the government owns guns, private gun ownership is necessary for effective self-rule.

      • @BrownNote@lemmy.ml
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        13 years ago

        Local police have historically been made up of power-hungry people though, and it has lead to much suffering through the history of the US. “A People’s History of the United States” contains a lot of historical evidence of this.