Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining me.
Miers Porgan here. Tonight's guest is a real
treat. This is someone who is really special
and we're very fortunate to have him here
with us. I'm of course, talking about one
of the founding fathers himself, our 3rd President,
Mr. Thomas Jefferson. This is truly a unique
occasion as we will be discussing the 2nd
amendment to the United States Constitution
with someone who was around at the time of
the original drafting, although he was away
in France on official duties during the actual
convention in Philadelphia. Please welcome,
Mr. Thomas Jefferson.
You know, Tom. May I call you Tom? We’ve
experienced an awful lot of gun violence in
America since your time, my friend. These
days, the NRA practically owns the Republican
party. Thank goodness for the much more civilized
Democrats – the party which you helped found,
of course. I'm sure that you would you be
proud to know just how much it has grown!
Why, the Democratic party is now so large
it has become involved in nearly every aspect
of American life.
That government is best which governs least.
Unfortunately, the natural progress of things
is for liberty to yield and government to
gain ground.
Please, Tom, try and keep up with the times,
okay? Anyway, I particularly wanted to ask
you about this so called right to bear arms.
I know I know, it’s specifically mentioned
in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.
But, you know, times have changed. The country
has evolved. Some of the more, shall we say,
old fashioned, traditions of your day no longer
apply, do they? This whole 2nd amendment thing
is so, well, so yesterday. Unfortunately today,
there are an awful lot of right wing fanatics
who speciously try to equate their love of
guns with their precious personal freedoms,
completely ignoring the fact that we’d be
much better off without so many guns everywhere!
There are truly millions of the damn things.
Life would be so much better without these
terrible guns, so much more – well – peaceful.
Wouldn't you agree, Tom?
I much prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful
slavery.
What? No, no, no. You see, slavery was an
issue we resolved, no thanks to you, I might
add, about forty years after your - uh, that
is, after you passed away. Anyway, I wanted
to ask you, just what was the intent of the
2nd amendment in the first place? I know you
guys had just finished that whole fight for
independence thing. And there was also that
“well regulated militia” issue. But did
you founding fathers really intend for individual
citizens to have the right to carry guns,
especially as late as the 21st century?
No free man shall ever be debarred the use
of arms.
Well, I’ll grant you, that attitude probably
made sense in the late 18th century. However,
we’re much more civilized now. Suspicion
of government was certainly more understandable
back then but, our government is much more
benevolent today. I would say that there is
very little to fear from the government, unless
of course, you happen to be a member of the
tea party or some other right wing extremist
organization.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
What country can preserve its liberties if
their rulers are not warned from time to time
that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?
Let them take arms.
Huh? Please, Tom, don’t tell me you’re
siding with the fear mongers on the right?
When governments fear the people, there is
liberty. When the people fear the government,
there is tyranny.
Tyranny? In the year 2016? Bullocks! Why,
you’re beginning to sound a bit extreme
yourself there, Tom. Anyway, let’s get back
to the 2nd amendment, shall we? You still
haven’t given me a good reason as to why
you guys were so hell bent on granting to
the American people the right to carry guns.
The strongest reason for the people to retain
the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last
resort, to protect themselves against tyranny
in government.
Wow, Tom. You’re really coming across as
quite the conspiracy theorist now. Have you
been listening to Alex Jones or some other
right wing nut job? Like I stated earlier,
our government is very benevolent today. Why
we have social security, medicare, Medicaid,
WIC, CHIP, food stamps, minimum wage – hell,
we even have Obamacare now. And it was all
overwhelmingly approved by the American people
themselves uh, well, sort of. No American
has to worry any longer about the prospect
of becoming indigent, Tom! Now if only we
could institute some form of sensible gun
control.
False is the idea of utility that sacrifices
a thousand real advantages for one imaginary
or trifling inconvenience; that would take
fire from men because it burns, and water
because one may drown in it; that has no remedy
for evils, except destruction. Laws that forbid
the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature.
They disarm only those who are neither inclined
nor determined to commit crimes.… Such laws
make things worse for the assaulted and better
for the assailants; they act rather to encourage
than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed
man may be attacked with greater confidence
than an armed man.
Aw, come now, Tom. You can’t be serious.
You’ve obviously been listening to Fox news
or perhaps paying too much attention to right
wing commentators yapping away about the dangers
of gun free zones and how the overwhelming
majority of public mass shootings supposedly
take place where citizens are known in advance
to be unarmed. Statistics prove that places
with extensive gun controls in place - cities
like Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Washington,
D.C. – have less gun violen – well, on
second thought… listen, oh dear, we're almost
out of time. Any final comments, Tom? I know
for example, that you were also a strong proponent
of physical, as well as mental fitness back
in the day.
A strong body makes the mind strong. As to
the species of exercise, I advise the gun.
While this gives moderate exercise to the
body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence
to the mind. Let your gun therefore be the
constant companion of your walks.
Jeez, Tom! I had no idea you were such a gun
fanatic. It’s almost as if you founding
fathers were downright paranoid that agents
of the government were going to come and seize
your damn precious guns at any moment - 
oh dear wait….
