March 23, 2014

The King is Dead! Long Live the King!

By Nicki Kenyon
Share/Bookmark    rss-feed
smalline

"Gun Control is not Kosher", returns -- latest AR-15 Draw.
25th Anniversary Special -- package with special signed books and t-shirt.
The Main 25th Anniversary Page-- superb knives to be won.
"Waco a New Revelation" DVD -- now only $12.95 on close out.
"Gun Control in the Third Reich" -- book, copies still available.

smalline


Those who thought that the ouster of the corrupt Yanukovych regime in Ukraine would signal a new era of freedom and transparency in the crisis-torn country might want to think again. After Viktor Yanukovych and his horde of rights marauders fled the country in disgrace (taking a significant amount of Ukrainian assets with them), a new petty tyrant has ascended the throne, and while he's not as overtly corrupt as the old one, he appears to be no better than Yanukovych when it comes to basic civil rights.

Yanukovych was no slacker in the oppressive jerkery department. After he took office in 2010, human rights groups began to notice deterioration in basic civil rights. The Press Freedom Index noted in 2010 the slow deterioration of the freedom of the press since Yanukovych took office. Bribery was rampant, and the justice system was a mess.

In November 2013, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law that outlawed dissent and limited the right to protest in Ukraine, likely after Yanukovych realized how much his own people opposed his decision to turn away from an Association Agreement with the European Union and cuddle up to Vladimir Putin and Russia. After a rather creepy, Orwellian attempt to intimidate protesters who continued to demonstrate in opposition to Yanukovych's antics by sending mass texts to the mobile phones of the protesters, accusing them of participating in a mass disturbance, he finally conceded that it might have been a bad idea to limit the people's right to free speech in such a manner, and repealed the law.

Gun rights -- much like other basic civil rights -- were never a priority for the country. Only those licensed were allowed to own guns, and you had to show a need for the government to grant you permission to own a firearm -- a tool you had to register and a "right" that could be taken away unilaterally by the government if a bureaucrat in that corrupt system felt you were no longer entitled to your firearm, Run like hell from any government that makes you beg and jump through hoops just to exercise what should be your basic civil right!

But if you thought that things would get better under the new government, you have another think coming.

The New York Times reports that Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk set a deadline of this past Friday for turning in the "illegal" firearms that are now carried openly by so-called self-defense groups. While the Times sneers at the concept that Ukrainians may actually need to defend themselves, it is surprisingly honest that the reason for Yatsenyuk's deadline is to extend his government's authority. I doubt the writer understands that this is precisely the problem!

Let’s set aside the fact that there is still violence in the streets of Ukraine, even in cities other than Kyiv, which avoided the initial chaos and are now rife with ethnic tensions. Let’s also set aside the fact that a government that needs to assert its authority by rendering its citizens defenseless, not just against threats on the streets, but also against itself, is not a government that will protect its people’s freedoms. Just like Yanukovych and his corrupt band of monkeys tried to stomp on the citizens’ right to dissent in order to preserve their power, the current corrupt band of monkeys is trying to assert their own authority by ensuring the citizens cannot remove them by force.

But there’s another problem. Apparently, ever since the unrest began and the Russians decided to march their happy rear ends into the country, there have been anti-Jewish provocations. This is according to Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, who accused Russia of staging anti-Jewish provocations in the Crimea to justify meddling in the region. These are not hollow accusations. The Russians have been using the presence extreme right, ultra nationalist, anti-Semitic Pravyi Sektor to express their “concerns” for the safety of the Jews in Ukraine. But notice, neither government is concerned enough about the safety of Ukraine’s Jewish citizens to allow them to use firearms to defend themselves from violence.

The speechifying on the part of Yatsenyuk sounds much like it does here. “For those who want to defend their country with an assault rifle in their hands, welcome to the National Guard or the Army.”

And much like in the United States, the reply from the people is that they need the firearms to protect themselves against violence, and against an abusive government, which appears to be inevitable, no matter if the Russians or the current Ukrainian oppressors are in charge.

Let this be a lesson to those of us in the United States. A government that stomps on your right to free speech in order to preserve its own power is not your friend. A government that demands you give up your right to keep and bear arms to preserve its own power is not your friend. A government that uses its supposed concern for your defenselessness as justification to invade your land in order to protect you from violence, while denying you your basic human right to defend yourself is not your friend.

And neither is any government that uses its supposed concern for your safety as justification to disarm you and thereby make you less safe. The interim government of Ukraine is no better than the last one. Same concern for its own authority. Same lack of concern for the citizens' rights. Same tyranny. Different face.



Nicki Kenyon has been an avid gun rights advocate since she returned to the United States from an overseas Army tour in Germany. She began writing about Second Amendment issues in 2001 when KeepAndBearArms.com published her first essay, "The Moment". She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from American Military University. Her area of expertise in those fields is European and Eurasian affairs. When not writing about gun rights or hanging out with her husband and son, she practices dry-firing her M1911 at the zombies of "The Walking Dead."

♦♦ Now at sale price -- "Gun Control Gateway to Tyranny",
THE definitive book that relates the link between the Nazi Weapons Law of 1938 and, the U.S. Gun Control Act of 1968. Now just $14.95 incl S&H.
.

Back by popular demand is the JPFO window sticker - 3½ x 3½ in size and the adhesive is placed such that adhesion can be to the inside of glass, thus keeping it out of the elements. It is now available from the JPFO Store - get yours today.

Refer to the "Sandy Hook Index" for an archive collection of valuable material accrued during the months following the events at the Newtown Elementary School.

Yours in Freedom, The Liberty Crew at JPFO
Protecting you by creating solutions to destroy "gun control"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to Top

JOIN JPFO TODAY

DONATE TO JPFO

SIGN FOR ALERTS

The JPFO Store

Films and CDs

Books

Various