The Russia Ukraine situation reminds us just how important the Second Amendment is here in America.

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Here’s a transcript of our conversation:

Emma: Hi, Brittany

Brittany: Hi, Emma.

Emma: Today I wanted to talk about two things that have a lot of, shared meaning and that are very closely tied and have a very special relationship, but that we don’t always talk about. And those two things are weapons and liberty. And I think this is something that maybe people who sort of have the same worldview as us might talk about a lot, but it’s not something that’s ever really discussed amongst, you know, non-political people. Because a lot of people see weapons and see guns as being these really scary, really bad things where, you know, why would you own a gun if you like people or you don’t believe in warfare, or you don’t believe in conflict or hurting others? Because I think for a lot of people, guns are very scary. But something that I think has kind of brought this back into the conversation recently is this conflict that’s happening as we record this episode in Ukraine. Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and a lot of Ukrainian citizens are taking up arms and having to defend themselves and basically help their army fight off this Russian invasion That’s been happening. And something that’s been really interesting is that you know when you look at Ukraine and you look at the laws there, it’s actually not a very free country in a lot of ways. I think that’s something important to note throughout this conflict because a lot of people are wanting to cheer on the Ukrainians, but I think we should also be objective about Ukraine as a government and Ukraine as a country. But something that’s interesting is Ukraine really did not have a right to bear arms like we have in America. So in America, we have the Second Amendment. It basically gives us a special right to protect ourselves and to own weapons. And that’s something that’s very unique, worldwide. There are not a lot of countries that give that right. So explicitly, and Ukraine actually as, as this invasion was happening, gave back citizens the right to bear arms and said, Hey, we’re gonna actually supply you with weapons. And they started handing out, I believe they were AR fifteens or something similar. Definitely, a weapon made for war. So it’s like a high-capacity weapon with that holds a lot of bullets and it’s something that a lot of people in the United States would see as totally unnecessary or super scary. And this whole thing, I think has been a really interesting reminder that, you know, the Second Amendment is not about hunting. It’s not about being able to go out and shoot targets with your friends. It’s about actually protecting yourself from threats. And I think that’s something that we, you know, we as, you know, limited government people need.

Brittany: It’s so interesting to me because you see a lot of people who probably don’t agree with the Second Amendment at all, but they’re, you know, really excited seeing Ukraine take up, you know, take up arms and even doing things like Molotov cocktails, which are like homemade bombs, which are very scary, but they’re like very excited about this. But then if you were to even dare suggest here that we, not to protect ourselves, people would go crazy. But the other funny part about that is people during the Trump administration who didn’t like Trump were constantly saying, the government’s trying to get right, like the government’s bad, like they against us. So first they don’t believe that that’s ever gonna happen here, even though they already believed it. And two, it’s only okay if other people have guns. So it’s just so funny to me how distorted our thinking is. You know, these are all logical fallacies if we talked about, as we’ve talked about before, but at the very root of our second Amendment comes the history that, you know, American colonists were just chilling, living in their houses, and all of a sudden the British military came over and would enter their house without warrants. Cuz those didn’t exist yet, where they called writs of.

Emma: Writs of assistance.

Brittany: Writs of assistance. They would just come and basically, we’re looking for this, or not even list what they were looking for. They’d come into your house, they would like sometimes like steal your livestock if they needed it for something. So this right to bear arms was because we saw firsthand that a government who’s allowed to do whatever they want will do whatever they want. And what is it they say that an armed society is a polite society is a quote that’s kind of honestly it’s kinda like the whole mutually assured destruction kind of thing. Yeah. This basically means if you know everybody’s armed, you are going to be more virtuous by nature because you know that somebody will stand up for themselves. So if we want to really be safe against the government, and we’re seeing this not just in or in Ukraine and Russia, right? I mean, how many places Yeah. In the world have we seen oppressive governments turn on their people? So this is something that’s very important. Yeah. And that’s why we should be allowed to keep and bear arms.

Emma: Absolutely. And I think it’s interesting too, when you look at the history of oppressive governments that end up killing a bunch of people or doing these horrible things or running the country into the ground, one of the first things that they tend to do is take away people’s right to bear arms and they take away people’s weapons and they say, you don’t need those anymore. We’re going to keep you safe, and we have your best interests in mind. And maybe, in the beginning, they mean it, when they say that, I doubt it, but let’s just assume the best about them, that they mean it all, it takes, once you give those rights to self-defense away, all it takes is for someone really evil or really corrupt to come into power. And then all of a sudden you are defenseless. You have nothing you can do at that point except hope and pray that, that someone will take pity on you and not harm you or not take advantage of you. Like it’s a pretty cynical way of looking at things. But when you look at history, it’s, that’s the point of view that’s the most rooted in reality. And I think there is a healthy skepticism that we should have of authority that says, Hey, we’re going to take care of you. We’re going to cover all your needs. You don’t need to do anything. We’re gonna protect you. Because once you give those rights away, you really can’t get them back. And that’s also another problem is in countries where, you know, they take away people’s rights to own guns and to own weapons, maybe take the government out of the equation. The interesting thing is that criminals and you know, violent criminals who are, you know, in running gangs and like doing these, doing these horrible things and harming people, they almost always will be able to find guns and weapons and they’re going to be able to get ahold of them because they don’t care about the law. The only thing that laws taking away gun rights do ultimately is just take them away from people who follow the laws and who are trying to do the quote-unquote right thing. You know, that’s maybe not the actual right thing, but it’s what they believe is the right thing is to get, you know, well, I don’t need these, I don’t need to kill anyone. I’m gonna give this back to the government. But all you really do in that situation, by complying with that is you take away your own right to defend yourself and you put yourself in harm’s way. And ultimately, I see this really as an issue of personal responsibility where, you know, if you believe that you should be free and that human liberty is important and that the government shouldn’t control you, or other corrupt individuals shouldn’t control you, being able to back that up I think is something that’s really huge. And it’s really important. And like I said, there are a lot of countries where that Right is not recognized. And I feel badly for people in those countries because their liberty is more vulnerable than ours for that reason. So it’s really crazy to me. And, you know, I’m someone who does carry, I have a concealed carry permit and I’m trained to carry a handgun. And it’s something that I do a lot when I’m, you know, out and about by myself. And it really does, it gives me a feeling of safety. And obviously, you know, you wanna be very, very careful and know what you’re doing around weapons if you’re gonna carry them in public like that. But it’s pretty cool. In Tennessee, they just passed something called constitutional carry.

Brittany: Oh, yeah. In Utah. Yeah.

Emma: Means, yeah, exactly. So there are a few states in the country that have constitutional carry, and basically what that means is they refer to the constitution’s rules when it comes to guns and they say, we’re not gonna add anything to that. We don’t have any other stipulations or rules or anything. So I feel very fortunate to live in a state that respects my right to defend myself and to defend my own liberty from others. And I think that’s, I think that’s one of the best ways that as a country we can embrace the freedom that we have, is to really fully let people defend themselves in that kind of a way.

Brittany: There is a book, and I was trying to Google it while you were talking, I can’t find the name of it or the country it was, but there is a,  if you can find it, here’s a, here’s a quiz for you. So there was one country, there were a couple of countries, But Hitler didn’t invade it. There was one he specifically did not invade because the people were armed. And I don’t think it’s Switzerland. Cause I think that’s the easy answer. I think that’s not what it was. So I’ll have to find that for you guys. but there was a whole book written about it. So I think that’s a really interesting point that a lot of these like leaders, these dictators were scared of going into countries where people had guns. Because if there’s guns, that means people are going to put up a fight. You know, they’re not gonna let you take their land. This is something America, you’d think we would know this. But, and by we mean the government, they got into some trouble in Vietnam because they did not expect it wasn’t guns, but they did not expect the people of Vietnam to take up weapons and to defend themselves. Yeah. And they did. And it wasn’t always, sometimes it was bombs, sometimes it was guns, and sometimes it was just like these bamboo sticks. They would, you know, you know, shape into weapons. But, having weapons in general, protecting yourself, this is what de deters people from invading and taking over Yeah. Parts of, you know, your own country. So it is so important to be armed because, well back up though. I do like what you said, Emma, it’s important to be armed, but you need to know what you’re doing. I do not have a gun. The only reason I do not have a gun is because that I have not gone shooting enough to feel completely safe with one. Totally. Yeah. And so I feel like it would be really irresponsible of me to have one, but I also feel like it’s almost irresponsible of me to not go out and learn how to use one. Right. I need to find the time to do that, because I do think that’s also very important, but definitely important to know what you’re doing because there’s a lot of safety laws. You really need to be, you know, safety law, safety rules you need to, adhere to so you don’t get,  hurt or hurt anybody else.

Emma: For sure. And it’s also talking about sort of the responsibility element of it too. I think also part of that is taking responsibility for, you know, what if something happens where I do have to use my gun, and a lot of people think, well, I, you know, if I just carry one, I’ll be safer and I won’t have to worry about anything. But a lot of times, even if it’s justified, even if you truly are defending yourself, the things that can happen in court afterwards are crazy. So it’s important to not only know, you know, what you’re doing with the weapon itself and that you have a hundred percent confidence on the safety and the handling of it, but also what are you going to do if you do have to use it. So something that I purchase, this is an awesome free market product that I love, is I have insurance for my concealed carry permit. And basically what that means is if I have to use it, God forbid, I hope I never do. But if I do, I have a lawyer that I can call that will actually help me, you know, navigate the case and talk with the police and make sure that I get a fair shot in court. Because a lot of times these things can get so complicated in court. So that’s not me trying to sell that to anybody, but I think it’s just important when you have this power, you also have a lot of responsibility. And Brittany, I did, I do think I’ve heard the quote that you were talking about. Was it Yamamoto talking about invading the United States that there would be a gun behind every blade of grass?

Brittany: No, this talking was an actual Yeah, this is World War II. It was actually, somebody wrote a whole book on this about there was one country, wow. Specifically, that was because of guns. I can’t find it now, but I read it in a book and I can’t remember where I read it, but there was a whole book written about it, So.

Emma: Okay, well that sounds super interesting. I’m gonna try to figure out what that was the quote that I’m referring to too as we, as we wrap up here is a kind of a fun one, but it’s also a controversial one because it’s not really well documented whether or not this guy actually said it. Yamamoto was the admiral of Japan during World War II.

Brittany: This is another good quote. Yep.

Emma: Yes. Yes. And he supposedly, I don’t know if this is true or not, it’s really hotly debated, so I don’t know, maybe do your own research and make up your own mind. But he apparently said that you cannot invade the mainland United States because there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass. And this is a great example of how well-armed America is compared to the rest of the world. He knew that it would be really challenging. So I think that’s kind of a nice little note to end this on. We’re a very well-armed country and I hope that we stay that way because I think it really sets us apart and ensures that our liberties are going to actually stick around. So we will wrap it up here today, guys. Thank you for listening, and we will talk to you all again soon.

Brittany: Talk to you soon.