see counter-arguments. My response to that would be that as important as the lack of guns in the Jewish community was, the strong existence of guns outside of that community was equally, if not more, important. He utilized both sides of the spectrum. The question to ask would then be how easily can gun owners and/or enthusiasts be manipulated to use their weapons for someone else's political gain? This draws parallels with hate radio in this country and stochastic terrorism. Also, I think that for them to make that argument would be a bit counter-productive. The whole reason they like to use the Hitler example is to show that tyrannical governments are able to assume power through the powerlessness of those who don't bear weapons. With Nazi Germany, however, the establishment was able to hold power despite the existence of guns. Some might say that this is because true opposition to the government was only on the Jewish front, therefore gun owners did not feel the need to protect themselves. The fact is, although Jewish people were undoubtedly the worst off, other groups were also under attack. These groups had the chance to fight back. Also, making such an argument suggests that gun owners would only fight back if the government was a direct threat to them. If gun owners truly have such a egotistical approach, then they are not the embodiment of the constitution, which is to protect ALL OF US, and they should stop suggesting that they are fulfilling the vision of the second amendment.
Perhaps, the main reason for this argument is that gun enthusiasts believe that they will be the persecuted group, the one who is barred from ownership. This is of course complete nonsense because no law is being put up for a vote that would ban one group from ownership. Furthermore, if one group were to be barred it would be the group that is most discriminated against in this country, just as Jewish people were the most discriminated against in Germany. Southern whites are not the most discriminated group as I'm sure we all understand. (By the way, I am not suggesting all gun owners are white, southern, or republican)
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