For those of you gun control advocates who mock those of us who remind you that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect us from an over reaching government, have the actions of the Ferguson PD changed your mind or do you still think only the police should have the guns?
This fails as a straw man fallacy.
No one is advocating 'only the police have guns.'
And one needs to be specific as to what constitutes 'gun control.'
There are certain provisions of gun control laws that are both appropriate and Constitutional, such as background checks to prevent felons, undocumented immigrants, and those mentally ill from possessing firearms (see:
DC v. Heller (2008)).
There are also gun control provisions that are not appropriate and ineffective whether Constitutional or not, such as licensing requirements (save that of concealed carry), purchase and possession permits, registration requirements, waiting periods, and restrictions on magazine capacity and the prohibition of semi-automatic rifles such as AR and AK platforms.
Last, the Second Amendment doesn't trump the First Amendment.
The notion that that Second Amendment enshrines a 'right' to use firearms to 'overthrow' a government perceived to be 'overreaching' is incorrect and unfounded. The
Heller Court determined that “[t]he Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.”
A minority of private citizens may not 'take up arms' against a government they believe to be 'oppressive' without the consent of the majority, where the First Amendment guarantees all Americans the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” as such petitions manifest at the ballot box or in the Federal courts; to 'overthrow' a government by a force of arms without first affording the people the opportunity to seek relief via elections or in the courts is clearly un-Constitutional and a violation of the rule of law – indeed, it is in fact advocacy of mob rule.
