This is another in one of my favorite themes: the power of political minorities.
Here it is the National Rifle Association. Their membership is a little over 1% of the US population.
Why are they important? Clearly they are granted a lot of free publicity and political attention. Part of my interest is in how such as minor minority has such influence.
Sure, it isn’t just the numbers. Many of their members are vociferous. I think that many of them base their support of the Second Amendment (to the US Constitution) on a fear of a tyrannical federal government. This is the fundamental right to violently revolt against the US. I’ve always thought that is a curious struggle of contradictions, since many right wingers who demand arms also reject change, even though they support the most fundamental change possible in politics.
I support repealing the Second Amendment. On the other hand, I do think there should be a popular opposition to tyranny in the federal context. For this, I offer changes to the National Guard. They need to be the only state-level bearers of arms. But, they cannot be under the control of the federal government. They need to be a militia that is under the control of the state government. This provides more balance between state and federal power. Along these lines, the military strength of the US federal government should be reduced. This is not just about the projection of US power into international affairs, but into domestic affairs.
Similarly, federal agencies with growing authority to spy on US citizens need to be sharply curtailed. But, that’s another story.
Update 2013-2-10
A recent news report stated that there would be no gun bans because 40-something percent of Americans oppose one. That’s what’s known as a minority. Again, minorities have amazing influence. The filibuster is a fundamental example. What happened to Democracy?