The word is irrelevance. . .

A surprisingly good essay. This is an issue of intent and the process of change. Guns are irrelevant in post industrial societies except as tools of crime and death. Needless to say the death is primarily self inflicted except for the worst cases when family members are slaughtered. This may be different in a failed state with no administrative structure but there are a limited number of those.

If the intent is to allow defense against an authoritarian government in post industrial societies, guns are useless. They would, of course, increase the death toll among those silly enough to imagine they are living in the past but this would be, at most, a nuisance to the government. This is not China in the 1930s or Vietnam in the 1950s. Those are the last historical examples of popular armed success. In one case this was a revolutionary ideology combined with defense against foreign invasion and in the other a long term fight against colonial domination. What matters now, as this article correctly states, is digital freedom to communicate and organize mass, nonviolent, shows of popular support. But those are also fairly easily quashed as we allow control of the internet to stop further action. This is the only viable “right” left for people to use for their own defense.

The true right to power to protect our individual freedom and diversity is, as this essay states, the ability to maintain open internet connectivity with the right of encryption and no censorship. These are the true weapons of self determination in the twenty-first century and our diligent, enlightenment era founders had not even a clue.

But I will add, the battle that the NRA stooges wave their toy guns at, is lost before it starts. Control of media (now social media) with individually targeted misinformation is used to subvert the less educated, dogmatically inclined, and most confused. They are indoctrinated and distracted with false targets so they support oppression by manipulating their symbols of faith to disrupt and deny democratic rights and action. And the cost of injury and death inflicted has a crippling effect on our society far beyond that of other post industrial states. This, of course, is never presented to the people being used. Their bubble world is rigidly controlled.

And, lastly, the defenders of the totally irrelevant 2nd amendment are now supporting a fascist regime that has usurped a democratic government. The controllers of that regime understand this and are not at all threatened as they use whatever fools they can control. The dark humor of watching these people grovel at the feet of their exploiters should be, but is not funny.