Re: "Yes. BECAUSE of the police, which can be turned against the population"
@ AC: "Just, any authoritarian government today turns the *military* against the population, with tanks, helicopters, etc, all with far heavier weapons than an assault rifle. So, unless you get antitank and antiaircraft guns and missiles, you have no chance to resist it."
That's a solid argument, and one that even some pro-gun activists will acknowledge. It's worth noting, though, that most regulations governing heavy weapons in the US are semi-recent, and many were enacted to suppress leftists.
Machine guns were banned here in the early 1930s as a check against anti-bank anarchists.
Up until the 1970s it was legal to buy 20mm light anti-tank rifles, but fears about the Symbianese Liberation Army using them led to the law being changed.
One old hillbilly told me about an ad for one that read "Stop that gopher IN HIS TRACKS!" :)
There was another round of gun restrictions during the Reagan years after some Black Panthers marched into a statehouse holding (but not aiming or firing) rifles.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
