The United States Constitution and the Second Amendment are shining examples of freedom and limitation on government power over much of the world. The Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms are envied by millions of people in the rest of the world, very plausibly by hundreds of millions. They are particularly envied when the governments are known to be corrupt and common people are disrespected, intimidated, and lorded over. Cuba and Venezuela come to mind. An incident in Panama from 1989 is illuminating.
In 1989, this correspondent was working for the U.S. Army. Through a series of fortuitous events, I was assigned one of the posh residences on Ancon Hill, near Gorgas Army Hospital. As the U.S. economic embargo against the Noriega regime tightened the economic screws, the poorest people were suffering. Ancon Hill is next to the border of the old Panama Canal Zone. A couple of beggars managed to make it up to the residences to ask for work and food.
My policy was to require a little work and to give them a dollar or two and a couple of cans of food. One of them spoke pretty good English, and we were able to converse a bit about the state of affairs. He was an educated man, about 50, who was not happy with El Presidente Noriega. He opined the same situation could never happen in the United States.
“¿Por qué?” I asked, in my very bad Spanish.
“Because”, He said, “In the United States, everyone has guns. The Rifle Association will not let them take the guns.”
I was amazed. There was a poor Panamanian man who knew more than many Americans about the purposes of the Second Amendment. We had a good conversation. As I recall, I had him sweep a few feet of sidewalk, gave him a couple of dollars, a couple of cans of food, and perhaps something from the refrigerator to drink. It was over 34 years ago. I may have recounted this incident elsewhere. If there are minor variations, blame it on an imperfect memory. I never saw him again. We were evacuated from Panama shortly after, and shortly after that, Panama was invaded by the United States. Much of the action happened a couple of miles from my former residence on Ancon Hill.
Something similar has happened in correspondence with people in other countries, or talking with immigrants to the USA, and in news articles here and there.
In much of Brazil, there is a desire for more access to arms for self-defense. It was one of President Bolsonaro’s main policies. In Argentina, President Milei has been elected with removing restrictions on access to arms as one of his promised policies. In Nigeria, political candidates are calling to have more access to arms for self and community defense. From Punch:
This is not the first instance where a political figure is championing for Nigeria’s right to bear arms.
The House of Representatives Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, in 2022, said Nigerians must be allowed to take up arms and defend themselves against terrorists.
The then Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, in 2020 also reiterated his appeal to the Federal Government to allow responsible Nigerians bear arms to defend themselves.
In the Czech Republic, the right to armed self-defense has been included in their Constitution, although it is a weak shadow of the Second Amendment.
Israel is making it a little easier for private people to bear arms for their own defense. Their laws are still some of the most restrictive in the world.
There are those who think Americans are barbarians who are extremely stupid to allow their commoners to have free access to guns. Those same people are often happy to be shielded by American naval power and America’s atomic arsenal.
None of the foreigners I talked to believed the Second Amendment did not apply to individuals, even those foreigners who denigrated the right. They all believed the USA was the most armed country in the world because of the Second Amendment. The meaning of the Second Amendment was clear to them, even if they disagreed with it.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
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