I Don't Think Freedom Means What You Think it Means
Miguel over at Gun Free Zone has been having a great time with the bullshit that the Coalition to Stop Self-Defense Gun Violence (CSGV) has been posting on their Facebook page (since they can't use Twitter as they were violating the terms of service and all). One of the posts stated "OUR freedoms are endangered by THEIR guns." This lead me to question whether or not CSGV have a dictionary available to them. When I type "define:freedom" into Google I get the following results:
The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint - we do have some freedom of choice - he talks of revoking some of the freedoms
Absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government - he was a champion of Irish freedom
The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved - the shark thrashed its way to freedom
The state of being physically unrestricted and able to move easily - the shorts have a side split for freedom of movement
The state of not being subject to or affected by (a particular undesirable thing) - government policies to achieve freedom from want
The power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity
Unrestricted use of something - the dog is happy having the freedom of the house when we are out
Familiarity or openness in speech or behavior
I'm sure you've noticed a common threat running through the multiple definitions of freedom I found, they all talk about unrestricted action. Thus a freedom is something that requires an action be free of any restriction. For example a freedom of speech would mean you could say whatever you want without having to worry somebody was going to bring violence against you for saying it.
Those of us who support the unrestricted right to keep and bear arms like to say we have the freedom to keep and bear arms. By utilizing this freedom we are in no way encroaching on any other freedom held by any other person. My carrying of a firearm doesn't prevent you from freely saying whatever you want. Just because I have a gun on my person doesn't mean you can't freely travel wherever you desire. My gun in now way hinders you in any way, shape, or form. The only way that my firearm could restrict one of your freedoms is if I used it to aggress against you. In such a case the firearm isn't the thing aggressing against you, the person wielding the firearm is. I carry a firearm so I can defend myself against those who wish to aggress against me thus preventing them from inhibiting my freedoms.
If the people over at CSGV lack a dictionary and are unable to use Google's define feature I'd be more than happy to mail them a dictionary free of charge. Why? Because I hate seeing people make asses of themselves simple because they don't know the definition of a word they're using.