From time to time, an article in China’s state-controlled press is so startling, one is prompted to wipe one’s eyes. Beijing’s news censors must be asleep at the switch. Fitting for Independence Day weekend in the United States, this article from China’s state-run Beijing Youth Daily appears to praise the American right to bear arms as ‘the last line of defense against tyranny and the defense of civil rights.’ In fact, the author almost seems like he’d like to propose a Second Amendment to China’s Constitution.
For the Beijing Youth Daily, columnist Fu Dalin writes in small part:
We may wonder: Why do Americans so love guns? Are they inborn advocates of violence? In fact, on the contrary, Americans see guns as important as life, precisely in order to resist violence. As early as the American Revolutionary War, Americans struggling for freedom understood that armed citizens were the last line of defense against tyranny and the defense of civil rights. With their hard-fought freedom paid for in blood, America’s founding fathers were fully aware of the importance of “people having the freedom to overthrow tyranny.” But how to overthrow a tyranny if there are no guns? So followed a constitutional amendment that specifically provides that, “the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” (Bill of Rights, Article II).
But time passes, and the United States is well beyond the danger of government tyranny. Yet the natural American preparedness against tyranny hasn’t changed. The spirit of the Constitution – defending of rights as if to prevent a fire, defending against the abuse of power as if preventing a flood – hasn’t changed, and it continues to ensure the people’s right to bear arms. Therefore, in America’s heart of hearts, “guns are a right.” And only by protecting the rights of citizens to bear arms can the government monopoly on the use of violence be countered, effectively preventing a small number of people using “guns” from imposing authoritarian dictatorship.
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