Why do you need.....????
Some answers for the question of why you need an AR-15/semi-auto/"assault rifle"/"assault weapon"
Putting aside, for the moment, the legitimacy of the question, (I'll get back to it), allow me to play devil's advocate...
a) So that the government obeys the law and the will of the people
They: That's BS. Your guns don't do that. The law, courts, and elections do that.
b) Because I don't trust politicians with my money or my life
Sorry, you don't get a choice about that. The only choice we get is every two/four years we get to choose which politicians we don't trust....
c) Because that's what the military has
Are YOU the military? Do you do what they do?? You're not, and so you don't need military weapons...
d) The people of previous generations struggled and sacrificed to give us the freedom we have today. We need to preserve that freedom for the future generations
yep, and they did it without assault rifles. So, clearly you don't need one for that.
e) Because an armed man is a citizen, and a disarmed man is a serf
A meaning less political slogan that does not apply in 21st century life.
f) Because exercising the right to bear arms is the only way to ensure all of the other rights. If we don't, they are not rights, they are privileges that we have only as long as the government decides we do
You're making an assumption, based on flawed reasoning. Exercising your right to bear arms doesn't ensure anything other than increasing the risk to the public. Laws, courts, and participation in the political process are what ensure our rights.
e) Why do you NEED your cell phone, instead of a phone on the wall of your kitchen? If you aren't willing to only have the technology of 1970, don't ask me to only have the technology of 1900
ok, maybe I don't need a cellphone, but cell phones aren't guns. Nobody goes into a nightclub and kills 50 people with a cell phone....
f) Because I'm willing to do my part to guarantee my freedoms and yours, even if you aren't willing to do your part
That's wonderful! go enlist!....
Good answers for those who are like minded, i.e. the chorus.
But maybe (probably) not as likely to make sense to those who are not.
"probably" most likely to be dismissed out of hand by those who are not already in our camp on the issue.
ALL the arguments that use our right to arms as the last ditch resort against tyranny are simply not taken seriously by the "average" American. They're still true, of course, but that doesn't matter to most people. They don't see it as even a remote possibility, and automatically brand those who do as nutcases and wackjob conspiracy theorists, people who are not to be taken seriously.
And, to be honest, to a degree, they are right. In ordinary day to day life, our ownership of arms (even the evil assault weapons) does NOTHING to keep the government "in line". Nor, should it. Our ability for armed resistance is a last ditch, emergency use only, no other choice thing. The Founders realized that, too, and believed that by restricting the government's authority to disarms us (2nd Amendment), we would never NEED to use that ability.
This is a viable solution, has worked for a long time, but only works when the government believes the people might actually DO IT. Today, they don't believe that.
And neither does the majority of the public. They also believe that if we did, we could not possibly win. And since the "right of armed resistance to tyranny" is usually the first thing that comes out of the mouths of the real nutcases and wackjobs, who are seen as on "our side", (and we have plenty) using that argument virtually guarantees they will label you one, and then everything else you say is of no consequence to them.
Now, lets get back to the root of the problem with the question, as asked.
"Why do you need...??"
As soon as you accept that premise as valid, you have given them the advantage. You're on the defensive, arguing, trying to justify a
need that they feel you don't have.
You were close with the cell phone argument. NEED has nothing to do with it, unless you agree to argue on their terms.
At the most basic, all that is needed for survival is enough food, and enough protection from the environment (shelter/clothing). Everything beyond that is a want. Even the "need" for freedom is not a real physical need without which we die.
The second point is why should you, or I, have to justify our "needs" to ANYONE???
What give them the moral (and legal?) authority to decide what you or I "need"?
Try this one, to turn it around on them, when they ask why you need ...an AR or...
Ask them how much money they make. Why do they NEED all that money??
Our government sets minimum wages, so clearly, that's ALL anyone NEEDS, right?
(don't allow distracting arguments like how the minimum wage isn't enough, that is a different subject, entirely.)
The point is that they need to see that NEED is NOT the defining factor. Tell them that if they want you to give up your property, in order to have any moral basis, first, they should give up theirs.
IF they do that, then, I'll listen...but what I do will be what I think is right, not what they think I ought to do, so they can sleep better at night....
There's lots more to it, of course, but you did ask "what do you think...."
