Justin’s note: On February 14, 17 people lost their lives in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Sadly, tragedies like this routinely happen in the United States. Every time they do, Americans demand radical reforms. And for once, the government’s delivering.
President Trump has already said that he wants to ban the sale of bump stocks. And he thinks teachers and coaches should carry firearms in schools.
That’s a controversial suggestion. Some people think Trump’s a lunatic for saying this. Other people think it’s a brilliant idea.
But I couldn’t help but wonder what Doug Casey thinks. So, I called and asked him myself…
Justin: Doug, what do you think of Trump’s latest suggestion?
Doug: It’s an OK temporary solution. First of all, everybody has a right to be armed. Historically, a major difference between a slave and a free man was that a free man could be armed. The slave couldn’t. The right to be armed is primarily a moral issue, not a legal issue. It’s a matter of principle. Which means it’s not open to compromise.
But there’s also a practical aspect to this. If you can’t arm yourself, you’re at the mercy of anyone who is. I believe the people who want to confiscate—i.e., steal—or restrict weapons are actually both dangerous and stupid. Why stupid? Let’s define the word. Being stupid doesn’t necessarily mean having a low IQ. Anti-gun nuts sometimes have high IQs—but IQ is surprisingly irrelevant in daily life.
A better definition of stupidity is “an inability to see only the immediate and direct consequences of actions, not the indirect and delayed consequences.” Among those, being unarmed is putting oneself at the mercy of a stronger miscreant. An even…