Many Americans seemingly have forgotten that in April, a group of anti-government extremists opened fire on law enforcement officers who were simply enforcing the law, killing 73 of the cops. According to reports, the honorable government agents were carrying out top secret orders to raid multiple stashes of illegal weapons in central Massachusetts. The law-breaking militia members found out about the raid ahead of time, and before the government agents could seize the militia’s weapons, among which were probably machine guns, they ambushed the government agents. Many members of the militia were likely white supremacists and were known to harbor deep hatred for government and law enforcement.
Contemporaneously or otherwise, it is hard to countenance their actions, even in the context of everything they were against. Citizens should work to change the laws through convincing others; there is never justification to participate in violent uprisings. They should never have attacked the officers. If citizens are not satisfied with their representation in government, there are peaceful means to achieve change.
Resentment towards law enforcement seems to have grown in the last few years, especially since the extra-judicial killing of George Floyd by police a few weeks ago. A great majority in this country believes that those radicals, libertarians, anarchists, and militia members who see law enforcement officers (LEOs) as evil, must understand that LEOs do not make the laws; they only enforce them. Since not everyone will agree with every law, adults must work peacefully within the system to change the law, through contacting representatives, signing petitions, or running for office themselves. As many conservatives say about those who oppose laws and get caught and/or incarcerated: “they should have just obeyed the damn law!”.
Specifically concerning gun laws, States like NY, NJ, and CA are becoming increasingly hostile to gun owners each year. Additionally, federal gun control measures like red flag laws, magazine bans, accessory bans, assault weapons bans, and many more anti-2nd amendment laws will likely pass in the coming years. Most conservatives I know and even many libertarians blame this on Democrats and weak-kneed RINO Republicans. If LEOs confiscate guns while enforcing these laws, it is not their fault. We should still support our law enforcement.
However, an increasing number of conservatives and libertarians are openly exclaiming that they will shoot any cop who comes to take their guns. These ‘Boogaloo’ extremists are becoming more common, and we even have a few thousand of them here in New Hampshire. But many other conservatives still believe that we must all stick with each other and with our boys in blue, most of whom genuinely do support the Second Amendment (except for those who confiscate guns and lobby against gun rights). They insist that if you don’t like gun control or other freedom-limiting laws, (lockdowns, curfews), work to stop them legislatively. “We the people” have the power to do that. If the laws can’t be stopped, it is your responsibility as a patriot to obey the law. Would our founding fathers have shot at a government agent?? Of course not! The American Revolution and independence from Britain occurred without a single shot being fired!
When asking yourself whose side of today’s issues you are on, ask yourself whose side you would have been on 245 years ago in April, when the above described raid took place. If you found that you were sympathetic to the British enforcers when they raided our American forefathers’ weapons stores in the first paragraph, perhaps you should reexamine your perspective on laws and their enforcement. On the other hand, maybe instead of telling libertarians that they ought to respect the law and law enforcement under all circumstances, we should all apologize to the Brits.
