In the wake of the Newtown shootings,
there have been numerous calls for gun control, using the exact same
tired, emotion-based, logic-free arguments that I’ve been seeing for
years on the subject. I’ve gotten into heated arguments with my own
family on this issue, who happen to live in one of the safest, smallest,
and most heavily policed nations on Earth. Being half a world away, I
have a very different view on this issue.

As a libertarian, I view the right to
self-defense as absolute and inviolable, inseparable from the rights to
life and property. The only authority that has any say whatsoever
as to whether or not you can defend yourself is the Almighty, and based
on what I’ve seen, He’s in favour. Even so, it’s easy to lose track of
the unassailable logic,  mountains of evidence, and facts about guns when you’re confronted by emotional women, power-hungry politicians, and a completely unprincipled news media.
Presenting logic and evidence when arguing with women in particular is a
non-starter; I’ve tried, and every time the response has always been
along the lines of, “well logic is all well and good, but surely you can
see that Something Is Wrong and it Needs Fixing and that Gun Control Is
A Solid Start!”.They really do think this way.

So it’s very refreshing indeed to see several well-known and highly regarded bloggers fighting the good fight with a call to arms that should ring loud and proud to any student of history:

Leonidas was not the greatest of the
Spartan Kings- probably wasn’t even in the top 5, actually. And ancient
Sparta was practically a proto-Communist state,
built on the backs of slaves- not a place that a libertarian would find
appealing. Yet he is remembered and revered for his willingness to do
what a free man must in order to defend his people, his country, and his
freedom. That is the example he provided, and it is one that we ignore
at our own peril.

And because I love that movie, here’s the scene where Leonidas utters the words: