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Comment by ping_pong | Hacker News Reader

This is a perfect example of why sometimes the Second Amendment is justified. At 83 years old, there's not much stopping him from hunkering down with guns, publicizing how evil the county is, and daring them to take it away from him.

What the county did is absolutely evil and all the administrators should be held accountable.

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He would have died. Others possibly as well. He would not have kept his house.

There are cases to make for the second amendment. A single citizen taking the law into his own hands and shooting at cops is not one of them.

Depends on who the cops are. Such action is not unprecedented:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)

I dunno. That incident pre-dates SWAT and 9/11. Nowadays they could just launch a missile at his house, bulldoze the lot, and sell it to some corp to build a parking lot or a suburb or something.

Let's not be hyperbolic here. SWAT doesn't have missiles. They will send a bomb in on a robot and blow you up instead.

Or drop explosives from a helicopter like the police did to the MOVE compound in Philly.

Fine --- a slow missile.

They do have grenade launchers though. Much cheaper than the robot.

I never said shoot at cops. Just hunker down with a big sign that says "OAKLAND COUNTY IS STEALING MY HOUSE OVER $8.41". I guarantee the media would cover this.

What are you expecting him to do with those guns?

Who are you expecting to show up when some guy barricades himself in his house with a bunch of guns?

I've witnessed a standoff first-hand. The police will show up and attempt to take down the person in question. They don't just hang around with their thumbs up their ass. They have riot shields, body armor, and they storm in from every direction with 20+ guys.

SWAT does not fuck around.

Apparently SWAT and police are stupid and incompetent beyond belief then, if they are willing to endanger lives over eight dollars and when the alternative is just walking away and taking that money from his bank account.

Maybe they still make those lemon-activated thinking-hats from the hitchhikers guide? Adding those to the issued gear might help.

It's not about $8. It's about challenging their authority.

Don't be deceived - there are many authoritarians wearing uniforms.

Actually.... Defending ones' house from government tyranny is one of the most valid reasons for Second Amendment.

Better than being 83 and homeless? I'll take my death, you can keep that precious 'freedom'

Maybe he could get his way with a gun, but then he'd have to carry around a gun all the time. And then what happens when the friends and lovers of the people he's hurt catch him without his gun? Or what if they get an even better gun?

Big gun diplomacy is a problem, not a solution... unless you're an arms dealer.

The idea that the second amendment exists to protect us from a tyrannical government has never manifested in reality. What history has demonstrated is that the only time second amendment advocates have shown any willingness to defend their rights is over the question of gun ownership.

Slavery? Military conscription? No problem.

Regulations in the 19th century? Income taxes in the early 20th? No problem.

Farming regulations? Corn quotas? Gold seizures? No problem.

Price and wage controls? Wealth redistribution? Healthcare centralization? Tariffs? No problem.

TSA? NSA? Free speech zones? Warrantless wiretapping? No problem.

If/when gun confiscation happens, I doubt there will be any resistance.

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