At least when the American state overreaches, half the country picks up a rifle and the other half hires a lawyer. The Second Amendment isn’t just about guns, it’s about the credible threat of consequence that keeps the state honest. A disarmed citizenry cannot negotiate. It can only beg.

Jefferson didn’t write “petition your overlords.” He wrote that when government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it. Not a suggestion. A right.