When I was a lad before entering high school I read Heinlein’s Starship
Troopers a decade before reading Atlas Shrugged. 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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