Firstly, thank you for acknowledging that the word “guns” does not appear in the 2nd Amendment. These days, it’s an important point that is often ignored. Rather, the term employed by the Founding Fathers was “arms”. The right to bear arms is consistent with our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are “natural” rights. In this vein, arms can be rocks or a femur from a bone pile, as depicted in the opening scenes of "2001: A Space Odyssey". Even 200 millennia ago, one needed to defend life if one was to exercise whatever primitive form liberty and pursuit of happiness took back then.
The “right to bear technology” is not a right but a privilege that is a product of the free, prosperous, advanced society that We, the People, built and maintained in our constitutional, democratic republic and demonstrated we are serious about it through prosecuting our bloodiest war in the second half of the 19th century using the most advanced arms available at the time. Yes, “Technology”, as we refer to it today, is critical to defending the 1st Amendment and freely exercising our right to free expression under it, but Tech also can be a powerful and effective weapon in the hands of those who oppose the 1st Amendment and the concept of rights in general. Silicon Valley does its best to support the 1st Amendment and our prosperity when its members remember that they are builders and not solvers (see the October 24, 2025 “a16z” newsletter article "Builders, Solvers and Cynics"). We have experienced Silicon Valley acting as solvers and the result has not been good for the nation.
I watched the sketch on SNL. Matt was great! That four letter word “Guns” is definitely not excepted in the tech world. I agree the 1st can’t survive without the 2nd. I have an early stage startup I’d like your opinion on. It’s bold and would fit great in your American Dynamism portfolio. Would you be open for a discussion?
"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together," Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope.
The Bill of Rights grants no rights. Rather it recognizes our inherent God given rights and promises to protect them.
Thank you for this piece. You have eloquently articulated an important point.
What a great article. Hopefully we will continue to see more. Thanks for sharing.
Firstly, thank you for acknowledging that the word “guns” does not appear in the 2nd Amendment. These days, it’s an important point that is often ignored. Rather, the term employed by the Founding Fathers was “arms”. The right to bear arms is consistent with our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are “natural” rights. In this vein, arms can be rocks or a femur from a bone pile, as depicted in the opening scenes of "2001: A Space Odyssey". Even 200 millennia ago, one needed to defend life if one was to exercise whatever primitive form liberty and pursuit of happiness took back then.
The “right to bear technology” is not a right but a privilege that is a product of the free, prosperous, advanced society that We, the People, built and maintained in our constitutional, democratic republic and demonstrated we are serious about it through prosecuting our bloodiest war in the second half of the 19th century using the most advanced arms available at the time. Yes, “Technology”, as we refer to it today, is critical to defending the 1st Amendment and freely exercising our right to free expression under it, but Tech also can be a powerful and effective weapon in the hands of those who oppose the 1st Amendment and the concept of rights in general. Silicon Valley does its best to support the 1st Amendment and our prosperity when its members remember that they are builders and not solvers (see the October 24, 2025 “a16z” newsletter article "Builders, Solvers and Cynics"). We have experienced Silicon Valley acting as solvers and the result has not been good for the nation.
Fun fact: ArmaLite, the company that created the AR-15, was a division of Fairchild Aircraft, so the AR-15 and the Intel 8086 are (distant) cousins.
This was some pretty hilarious pretzel logic mixed with a healthy dose of revisionist history.
I watched the sketch on SNL. Matt was great! That four letter word “Guns” is definitely not excepted in the tech world. I agree the 1st can’t survive without the 2nd. I have an early stage startup I’d like your opinion on. It’s bold and would fit great in your American Dynamism portfolio. Would you be open for a discussion?
"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together," Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope.
“If you define yourself by the power to take life, the desire to dominate, to possess...then you have nothing.” Obi-Wan Kenobi