Been doing some research on guns & the Ukraine. It seems to be there is a good lesson to be learned in all this.

Recently there have been many comments regarding the bravery & leadership of President Zelenskyy in the face of Russian invasion. Most notably, Zelenskyy reportedly responded to Biden’s offer to help evacuate with “I need anti-tank ammo, not a ride.” While I commend the bravado of standing his ground with invading forces moving in, we must also consider how he found himself in that position to begin with.

Ben Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The context of that statement was for fire safety, but is applicable in many areas of life. Our founding fathers recognized that guns in the hands of the citizens protected them from tyrannical governments… both those inside and outside of their border. We have seen this proven true when the Admiral of the Japanese Navy during WWII said “I would never invade America, there is a gun behind every blade of grass.” Knowing that a target has the ability to fight back makes an aggressor stop and count the costs.

Ukraine is learning this the hard way. To buy a shotgun, you must be 21. To own a rifle, the age goes up to 25. You cannot own a pistol. To own any gun, you also must pass a background check (with mental exam). Then there is the meat of the matter, and that is the gun license fees, a legal requirement for a safe, and a permit showing the safe is approved and installed. As with any government action, it becomes rife with red tape, delays, and adds up to be cost prohibitive for the average citizen.

In an interview given a month before being elected the 6th President of Ukraine, Zelenskyy was asked about if he was for, or against, the legalization of weapons. His reply, “I am against gun legalization…” The interviewer then clarified: “a short barrel for self-defense, that’s what we are talking about here.” Zelenskyy replied, “It does not matter. I am against gun legalization.” To his credit, and to the cost of his people, he has not wavered from that position. Putin is then free to look at Ukraine with the belief that they are a people incapable of defending themselves.

When the proverbial poop hit the fan, Ukraine found themselves in the unfortunate position of trying to quickly arm and prepare its citizens. If you’ve followed the news, I am sure you have seen them passing out guns to anyone willing to pick one up for the cause of national defense.

But what if?
If the citizens were already armed, would Russia have been so quick to roll into town?
If the citizens were already armed, how much more prepared would they be in the name of defense? How many Ukrainian lives would’ve been saved by a ready & prepared citizenry as opposed to a crash-course lesson on firearms while literally in battle? Who is culpable for individuals not being prepared when it was their own government that prevented them from doing so?

So yes, let’s give credit where credit is due. Both good and bad.

The right thing was done by arming citizens. but handing out weapons to people that have never shot a gun before, to then go toe to toe with the Russian Army. Talk about a crash course. Should Ukraine survive this hopefully it will be what is needed to reverse some of the policies about guns in their country. but I doubt it. They will want all those weapons back.

Post of the week right here

I'm glad he's handing them out... they will be hard to defeat if everyone has one that's if he doesn't want to destroy the infrastructure...

Good post and interesting concept. Does that mean Australia could be next in line to be invaded by another country? From my understanding they are “backed” by the US and not part of NATO. Having the US on your side doesn’t mean what it meant just a couple years ago.

There’s a video of a guy from a day or two before the invasion leaving the armory with his new AK47. He was asked if he knew how to use is and he indicated he was gonna go on the internet to find out how. They need to keep that guy out front

Thats what I was thinking. I mean dang they better teach him what cover means

not with that chickenshit lying POS of a President we now have, even if you paid him (thru Hunter) billions of dollars he would still throw you under the bus.

Ukraine became something if a puppet state due to Hussein Obama back in 2014. These types of restrictions on gun ownership are EXACTLY what the Bolsheviks want in our country. Zeilinsky is acting out a role for the cameras right now that his ass is literally on the line.

But I'm willing to bet that should Ukraine win this war by some miracle, he will want those weapons taken back from the citizens. Anti gunners don't want the weapons used to overthrow them when they push to far, and Zeilinsky is NOT a democratic ruler in this country.

Right to bear Arms of Law abiding citizens is a God given right and is something worth dying for to defend and protect. If citizens of a Country do not have the right to bear arms then in fact they have no rights at all against any governing body or foreign aggressor. A lot of good people across this Earth have learned the hard way on this issue.

most people have forgotten about the Budapest memorandum signed in 1994. Russia sign it and the United States amongst several other countries. Well Russia completely ignored it almost 30 years later and it seems the United States government has forgotten it as well. Treaties are made to be broken as the old saying goes I guess.

I don't care if he hands out a million small arms semi-auto weapons. Those, by themselves, are not enough to defeat a force with armor and air superiority like Russia has.

They need small arms, but they really need armor and air support if they actually want to win. I know they have some Javelins and Stingers, which is a start, but it's not enough.

I can see Putin winning a long insurgency war, simply because he doesn't care how many of his soldiers are killed, and his own people won't know either. It's not like he's going to be pressured by his "voters." The court of public opinion doesn't exist in communist states.

Russia Has a long history of not caring what happens to their own soldiers.

Ask the Native Americans about treaties.

Very good post, nothing to add and a great point

One of the things Putin wants is no arms in ukraine. So they would have to disarm for peace.

Switzerland makes every citizen go through rifle training and gives them a gun. They have never been invaded.

Great post and the point is spot on. We talk about the right to arms here in America but I can’t help but wonder what percentage of this country would be willing to hit the streets and fight with our military against a invading country. Personally I’m a little doubtful that most would go fight. I’m 43 years old. The generations ahead of me I have no doubt would take up arms and fight. The generations younger than me I highly doubt would.

I'm 33 and I'd kill every last one of them sumbitches