The frustrating part is that she could make her labored ‘guns rights’ argument without resorting to distortion and lying.

The colonists really did store up arms and other military equipment— like harnesses and tack and food— and hide it from the Regulars. That really happened. But they didn’t stop the Regulars from taking arms at Lexington/Concord. The British searched out and destroyed a few arms, but most had been hidden already.

It was very important for the US revolution that we had armed militias. It was vital. It was also vital that they were organized, often made up of members of the local government. When it came to private weapons, for example, in New York the colonists gave up private arms for the right of free passage out of New York, since that was much more important to them than the guns themselves.

What that has to do with what the US needs right now, of course, is another question. What analogy does Palin think there is? We’re not currently a colony of Britain or anywhere else.

Frankly, Palin’s whole speech sounds a little Kenyan and anti-colonial.