We need the 2nd amendment

1. The photo is from a recent protest in Hong Kong.

1. Sadly, it's too late for Hongkongers to have a 2nd amendment.

   Too late for Hongkongers to use firearms to resist their own toady government, which was effectively handpicked by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

   Too late for Hongkongers to use firearms to resist their own lackey police force.

   Too late for Hongkongers to use firearms to resist the triads and other hired guns (not to mention communist spies across Hong Kong) who are in collusion with the CCP.

2. I'm not even necessarily suggesting Hongkongers should use firearms, though that's an option. Just possessing firearms may be a deterrence in and of itself. At least it'd make bullies think twice.

3. Currently Hong Kong has de jure autonomy and liberty (viz. "one nation, two systems" and "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong"), but China has been chipping away at Hong Kong's de facto autonomy and liberty for years. (Perhaps the harsh truth is Hong Kong lost any real hope for autonomy and liberty once it was handed over to China in 1997.)

4. Mainland China has already been talking about sending troops into Hong Kong to quell the Hong Kong "rebels". If that happens, it could end up like another Tiananmen square. A bloodbath. Either that or Hongkongers will stand down and do nothing because they know resistance is futile.

   However, I don't expect this to happen until China has exhausted other less volatile options. For example, I'm sure China has already identified leaders in the protests and have them and their families under surveillance. And in the past China has caused people in Hong Kong to vanish in the middle of the night (e.g. the Causeway Bay books disappearances).

5. If China does send in troops to Hong Kong, it might look like this. China already has 6,000 troops based in Hong Kong. (Not to mention thousands more across the border in Shenzhen.) These troops are in Hong Kong with the promise not to interfere in the affairs of Hong Kong...unless the Hong Kong government requests it.

   The Hong Kong government is already filled with bootlickers. It does whatever the CCP wants. In fact, that's what started this most recent and still ongoing round of protests: the Hong Kong government tried to pass a bill that obviously came from the CCP since the bill would allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China on threadbare charges.

   Hence, the CCP could simply direct the government of Hong Kong to request assistance from mainland China against "unruly" "rebels" or the like.

6. Now, if China takes the most drastic measure and sends in troops to Hong Kong, I don't think there's really anything Hongkongers can do about it. Apart from die on their feet. A dystopian totalitarian communist Chinese government can do whatever it pleases to Hong Kong without fear of repercussion from Hongkongers.

7. It'll be like Putin marching into Crimea and annexing it. No one stopped Putin. Who's going to stop China? If no one, then that's often how dictators become emboldened (e.g. the Nazis taking Czechoslovakia - i.e. Czechia and Slovakia - emboldening the Nazis to take Poland).

8. Ultimately, I think it's a choice between appeasement vs. deterrence. However, without a viable threat from an adequately armed citizenry (e.g. knives can only do so much), what other choice is left besides appeasement of one kind or another? Yet appeasement only seems to keep bullies at bay for a time or a season. Eventually they'll come back for what they really want.

9. I doubt the Founding Fathers expected a ragtag Continental Army to be able to go toe-to-toe with the British redcoats in open battle. Likewise no one expects Hongkongers to stand up against China's military might even if they were armed with firearms.

   However, one can resist for longer with firearms than without. That, in turn, may buy enough time to win others over to one's cause. Such as the French coming over to aid us. And even at Tiananmen square, there were Chinese officers who hesitated or refused to kill Chinese civilians, though some of them were shot by their own troops. But my point is it's possible some fellow countrymen could be won over too. And there's such a thing as asymmetric warfare.

   In fairness, a lot of this might not be realistic in Hong Kong's case since China might not care if they literally starved and/or bombed Hong Kong out of existence. The CCP would likely be willing to do anything to keep revolution from spreading.

2. It's not too late for us. We still have the 2nd amendment. We have firearms to defend ourselves against the ever creeping tentacles of tyranny. Something to consider the next time people talk about banning all guns. There are millions of people in the rest of the world that would have loved to have a 2nd amendment.

3. A Chinese-American who was present at Tiananmen square: