"Every genocide in history has been preceded by civil disarmament."

[TheResearcher]

- Author unknown...so far.
Anyone care to give it a shot to find out who said this or something like it?

[sushilover]

- Author unknown...so far.
Anyone care to give it a shot to find out who said this or something like it?

Great post, Researcher.

[demopublican]

Great posts gene.

[ms maggie]

It's the latest wingnut talking point--the erudite Joe the Plimber has been spewing this. Not a big fan of history our boy Joe. Rwanda? Serbia?

[reg_indy]

What disarmament? Guns have never been more readily and easily available......

Hell, just go here: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/. It's Tiger Direct for gun nuts.....

You guys spouting the 'They are coming for our Guns' line are full of crap....

[pickles]

This is verifiably false.

[Phineas Finn]

The idea that an armed citizenry is a deterent to "tyranny" is a romantic conceit. The argument usually runs like this: "If they had had weapons in the Warsaw Ghetto, things would have been different." Yes, they would have; the Nazi's would have bombed the ghetto to dust, and the inhabitants would have been just as dead.

The notion of "dying on my feet and not on my knees" makes for a good John Wayne movie, but in the long run the weapons available to governments and not the people make mass execution inevitable.

The real preventive action for tyranny is education and involvement -- not fear and impotent violence.

[Wild Eyed Southern Boy]

The idea that an armed citizenry is a deterent to "tyranny" is a romantic conceit. The argument usually runs like this: "If they had had weapons in the Warsaw Ghetto, things would have been different." Yes, they would have; the Nazi's would have bombed the ghetto to dust, and the inhabitants would have been just as dead.

The notion of "dying on my feet and not on my knees" makes for a good John Wayne movie, but in the long run the weapons available to governments and not the people make mass execution inevitable.

The real preventive action for tyranny is education and involvement -- not fear and impotent violence.

The old "pen is mightier than the sword, huh." Wrong again. Far more have died for want of a sword than want of a pencil.

As far as "dying on your feet & not your knees", you're right it, I doubt it would matter to many. Fortunately not many I know.

And more so, it cost the Germans many soldiers against people who had to forage for and capture their arms. With more weapons, the Jews could have inflicted more casualties to the Germans. As far as bombing it into dust? Why didn't they? Because by that time, the Red Air Force ruled the sky over the battlezone. Nope, read history. The Russians stopped a few miles short of Warsaw to allow the Germans to kill off the Poles because they thought they were too friendly to the west. Shameful.

[ms maggie]

The old "pen is mightier than the sword, huh." Wrong again. Far more have died for want of a sword than want of a pencil.

As far as "dying on your feet & not your knees", you're right it, I doubt it would matter to many. Fortunately not many I know.

And more so, it cost the Germans many soldiers against people who had to forage for and capture their arms. With more weapons, the Jews could have inflicted more casualties to the Germans. As far as bombing it into dust? Why didn't they? Because by that time, the Red Air Force ruled the sky over the battlezone. Nope, read history. The Russians stopped a few miles short of Warsaw to allow the Germans to kill off the Poles because they thought they were too friendly to the west. Shameful.

The reason the Germans were able to intimidate, round up and exterminate the Jews is simple--they leveraged centuries old anti-semitism. It's not like Hitler woke up and day and said, gee, think I'll exterminate everyone with green eyes or people born on the third Tueday of every month. It was not the lack of guns, it was the willingness of the German and Polish etc gentile populations to turn a blind eye.

[soulflower]

It's the latest wingnut talking point--the erudite Joe the Plimber has been spewing this. Not a big fan of history our boy Joe. Rwanda? Serbia?

If Researcher says it, then it must be false

[soulflower]

The old "pen is mightier than the sword, huh." Wrong again. Far more have died for want of a sword than want of a pencil.

As far as "dying on your feet & not your knees", you're right it, I doubt it would matter to many. Fortunately not many I know.

And more so, it cost the Germans many soldiers against people who had to forage for and capture their arms. With more weapons, the Jews could have inflicted more casualties to the Germans. As far as bombing it into dust? Why didn't they? Because by that time, the Red Air Force ruled the sky over the battlezone. Nope, read history. The Russians stopped a few miles short of Warsaw to allow the Germans to kill off the Poles because they thought they were too friendly to the west. Shameful.

Recent history lesson:

Syria and Libya(Both heavily armed populations) - Tens of thousands have died. War crimes committed

Iraq(heavily armed) - Ethnic clensing between Sunnis, Kurds, and Shia have left tens of thousands dead.

Egypt(Not heavily armed) - Mostly peaceful protests. Thousands have died. No war crimes to speak of to date

While it's easy to find examples of unarmed populations being oppressed, it's also quite easy to find examples of armed populations being oppressed.

[Phineas Finn]

The old "pen is mightier than the sword, huh." Wrong again. Far more have died for want of a sword than want of a pencil.

As far as "dying on your feet & not your knees", you're right it, I doubt it would matter to many. Fortunately not many I know.

And more so, it cost the Germans many soldiers against people who had to forage for and capture their arms. With more weapons, the Jews could have inflicted more casualties to the Germans. As far as bombing it into dust? Why didn't they? Because by that time, the Red Air Force ruled the sky over the battlezone. Nope, read history. The Russians stopped a few miles short of Warsaw to allow the Germans to kill off the Poles because they thought they were too friendly to the west. Shameful.

My details were wrong, but the basic truth remains the same: Your home weapons will not stop the government if you choose to shoot it out with them.

[SemiAuto]

In a toe to toe fight, armed civilians will not do well against a trained army. So don't go toe to toe. Harassing attacks are far more effective and demoralizing and you'll need armed civilians to pull it off.

[soulflower]

In a toe to toe fight, armed civilians will not do well against a trained army. So don't go toe to toe. Harassing attacks are far more effective and demoralizing and you'll need armed civilians to pull it off.

If it comes to that, it doesn't seem too difficult to smuggle arms illegally to civilians(ie Gaza and the West Bank).

[SemiAuto]

If it comes to that, it doesn't seem too difficult to smuggle arms illegally to civilians(ie Gaza and the West Bank).

Then again, if you already have the arms then you don't need the 'smuggling' step.

[Kenect2]

My details were wrong, but the basic truth remains the same: Your home weapons will not stop the government if you choose to shoot it out with them.

That's why the American public should be allowed to own anti-air and anti-armor weapons.

[Baltimore Ravens Lets Go!]

That's why the American public should be allowed to own anti-air and anti-armor weapons.

Including criminals in the American public? Gee, I would feel so safe under this theory if applied.