Let me begin by saying this in hopes that you understand me clearly, “no matter what they say their goal is not to keep you safe.” As the great Thomas Sowell says and I’m paraphrasing, “the best society can achieve are trade-offs.” Meaning, perfection, or a utopian society is out of reach to imperfect people. We must always strive to ensure that the trade-offs produce the greatest good for our populace as a whole; a net positive if you will. Our first and second amendments are excellent examples of a net positive trade-off. But to illustrate this point better let me show you how removing either of these amendments would present a net negative trade-off as this trade-off would produce the same result. Let’s say you don’t like what another citizen has to say so you empower a government body to punish that citizen if they continue to speak in a way you deem offensive. Now let’s say that you notice your neighbor owns a firearm and even though he has done nothing wrong to you, him being in possession of a firearm makes you feel uncomfortable. Because of this uneasiness you vote to empower that same government body to come to his home and remove any and all firearms, by force if necessary, so that you can alleviate your fears. In both of these scenarios the trade-off was liberty for safety. Unfortunately for you, historically speaking, this trade-off has always produced a net negative result; it’s always been a matter of time. In striving for your own subjective safe space, you’ve given power, to an institution outside of yourself, to silence speech and disarm law abiding citizens. Sure, this time, they did it for you, but what’s to stop them from doing it for themselves now that you’ve given them the power to do so? The irony is the two things that would have kept them in check, speaking your mind freely no matter who’s offended and possessing the most effective tool for self defense, were the very things you traded to feel safer. Our forefathers, having liberated themselves from the heel of tyranny, knew this and in their wisdom crafted our constitution fully aware that individual liberty can never be compromised for any reason, period. Guided by divine providence, they took it a step further, inscribing that no government has the power to remove what God has given. Being the land of free you are not guaranteed safety which is why this is also the home of the brave - because it takes courage to live free.

https://time.com/6550026/prague-mass-shooting-gun-laws-czech-republic/

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/21/europe/prague-university-shooting-intl/index.html

Sweden

https://www.barrons.com/news/sweden-tops-europe-in-fatal-shootings-report-shows-01622034913

https://www.lifeinsweden.net/sweden-gun-laws/

Gun Death by Country

https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/gun-deaths-by-country/

https://news.sky.com/story/police-to-get-powers-to-seize-and-destroy-machetes-and-zombie-knives-in-further-crackdown-12950418

ON PODCAST: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lightbulbinitiative/episodes/EPISODE-50-THEY-KNOW-THEIR-GUN-LAWS-DONT-WORK-e2dpuom