[SIZE=medium]Our Founding Fathers gave us the most profound justification for civilians owning assault rifles: protection from tyranny. Many people believe that the United States could never become despotic, but it is not implausible for a democracy to turn tyrannical. In 1925, Italy [/SIZE]went from a parliamentary democracy to a dictatorship under Mussolini. In 1933, Germany went from a parliamentary democracy to a totalitarian regime under Hitler. In 1939, Spain went from a republic to a dictatorship under
Franco. As Ronald Reagan once said, "
[f]reedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."
[SIZE=medium]Once tyranny usurps power over the people, unconscionable brutality soon becomes the norm. In 1938, Hitler [/SIZE]banned Jews from possessing firearms. Shortly thereafter, weapons were confiscated, followed by genocide of the Jewish population. Six
million Jews were killed throughout Europe and the Soviet area. In 1915, the Ottoman Empire put forth a decree
disarming all Armenians. Shortly thereafter, weapons were confiscated, followed by genocide of the Armenian population. Approximately
one million were killed. In 1918, the Soviet Union introduced firearm registration followed by confiscation. Communist Party members were exempt from the confiscation order. From 1929 to 1945, Stalin committed genocide against "Kulaks" and Communist dissidents. An estimated
twenty million were killed.