Length: 301 Words Reading Time: 1 Minute + 15 Seconds
The full quote attributed to Joseph Stalin is “Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not allow our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas.” Stalin was not a man of ideas or philosophy, but he did understand power and its importance in controlling a society.
I would ask you to compare the substance of Stalin’s quote to what we see today in the national debate in America regarding political ideas and gun control. One side of the political spectrum is stating that free speech should not be allowed and guns should be banned. The other side asserts that free speech is a right of all citizens and that the right to bear arms to defend home and family is an essential freedom. Those two worldviews are directly opposite and cannot be reconciled.
When the Founding Fathers established the United States of America, they included in the Bill of Rights the right to free speech (which is directly linked to free and open discourse about ideas) and the right to bear arms. These two rights are found only in a free society. Only two nations come readily to mind when I think about free speech and the right to bear arms. One is America, and the other is Switzerland. Most countries in the rest of the world control speech to a certain extent and many ban the ownership of weapons.
For America to remain a free society and a free democracy, the right of free speech and the right to bear arms cannot be nullified. I write this because if they are, then a totalitarian society will become our future.
There really is no alternative. We must understand this choice as a nation, and then choose wisely. As for me, I stand with freedom and always will.