When I was a lad before entering high school I read Heinlein’s Starship Troopers a decade before reading Atlas Shrugged. And I read the novel for the ideas.
One of the ideas I formed at the time was that the personal weapon was both the instrument and the symbol of political authority. As the sword denoted the authority of the monarch the rifle denoted the authority of the citizen. The disarmament of the citizen would effectively strip him of political authority. Thus the attempt to disarm the citizens was effectively a tripwire to warn us of the attempt to establish a tyranny.
Of course the citizen must understand and accept his political responsibilities. The instrument is useless without the idea to guide it.
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