Found this on Quora. I had never thought of the 2nd. as protecting the world.
Answer to What arguments do right-wing Americans give for not changing the gun law when we can clearly see that every other western country has it better with a ban on guns? by Jarkko Holkkunen
Despite me being a right-wing Finn living in Finland and not an American, I have an opinion on the matter.
The US has the most powerful military in the world. In fact, it could probably wage a successful war against several of the next largest countries at the same time and still dominate.
If the US would decide to go to total war -mode and become an Empire, there’s not much a lot of the world could do except submit to them.
What keeps the US from becoming an Empire? Their democratic republic, where the people would not allow such a thing.
What keeps the US a democratic republic? The ability of the people to say ’no’.
What makes the people able to say ’no’? Their ability to pose a credible threat.
Why are they able to pose a credible threat? Because they are armed to the teeth.
One of the most amazing events was during the Bundy Ranch -conflict, where armed B*M (Bureau of Land Management) agents went and tried to confiscate the cattle of the Bundy family. A bunch of their friends and colleagues went there armed and by posing a credible threat prevented the B*M from taking the cattle and they had to retreat. After a long conflict, the court ruled in favor of the Bundy family. If they hadn’t stood up to the B*M, B*M would have destroyed the livelihood of the family and no legal victory later would have brought it back.
What would happen if the US people would be disarmed? Three-letter-acronym organizations would be sent to freely crush any political opposition to federal expansion. The democratic republic of the US would quickly become the totalitarian oligarchy of the US — after all, the political influence and example of the US are what is largely keeping a lot of the liberal democracies in the world as liberal democracies. After concentrating the power in the society to the unelected (or more likely elected through sham e******ns) elite, they would start looking outwards: for places to conquer.
This would indeed become the American Century, but for all the wrong reasons.
So please, keep your guns. In fact, buy more of them
https://republicans.quora.com/What-arguments-do-right-wing-Americans-give-for-not-changing-the-gun-law-when-we-can-clearly-see-that-every-other-wester-591?ch=17&oid=346831334&share=da8375e5&srid=xCABS&target_type=answerFound this on Quora. I had never thought of the 2n... (