So today Cracked has
5 Annoying Modern Debates That Have Been Around Forever
(Url title 5-surprisingly-ancient-political-debates-that-wont-go-away)
And #2 is about gun control.
So point in favor it does talk about how "We've Been Fighting About Weapons Bans As Long As We've Had
Weapons"
But the writer dives right into the "Well of course it's okay for rural people to have guns, but not people in urban areas."
Which it's funny how that
racist dog whistle is okay.
And yes the article contorts the term "stand your ground" to mean any generic castle doctrine or basic self defense:
Later, Roman lawmakers enshrined
their own "Stand Your Ground" law, making it perfectly legal to kill
someone who attacked you on the road or wandered onto your farm in
search of "plunder."
But the more important bit is at the end:
The issue got more complicated as weapons got more elaborate. In the 12th century,
the Church, the emperor of Germany, and other rulers tried to ban
crossbows for being "un-Christian." The issue came down to literal class
warfare -- crossbows were deadly and required little skill to operate,
meaning any yokel armed with one could kill a knight or nobleman. (Richard the Lionheart was killed by a potshot from some random dude defending a castle he was besieging.)
Centuries later, nobles had the same concerns about guns. Henry VIII banned anyone who made less than 100 pounds from owning a firearm,
and France soon followed suit. So governments have always kept weapons
out of the hands of the masses because they feared giving the people
power, but it was also often done to uphold order and save lives.
That double-sided issue has been a problem for millennia, so it's
unlikely the next Facebook argument you see is going to solve it.
The issue got "more complicated". What a nice euphemism there.
So.... the rich and powerful were afraid of commoners having weapons, so they worked to disarm them even using religion to push their way.
At least cracked admits the "literal class warfare".
But don't worry, sure the state has always wanted to disarm the masses, but it was for their own good!
And yes that is literally Cracked's angle.
Well, given this was all about how old these "debates" are you can give Cracked some leeway about not mentioning how racist early US gun control is.
Wait... you mean the next point is literally: #1. The U.S. Government Has Always Treated Some Minorities
Like Terrorists.
Huh.... so... remember that whole No Fly No Buy demand to ban gun ownership to people on some secret goverment watch-list?
