Here’s what no one seems to understand about the 2nd Amendment

 Picture on Parchment of the 2nd Amendment

On no other issue is our country more divided by such a hard line than on the 2nd Amendment. It seems as though you are either for it, or against it, there is no middle ground. Both sides of the aisle take a hard stance, unyielding to the other over what they believe the Second Amendment means. The Supreme Court decided the issue in the District of Columbia vs. Heller decision. The majority decision was written by Judge Anthony Scalia, “After much historical discussion”, therein ruling that the Second Amendment does protect the right of the individual to keep and bear arms. Scalia subsequently passed away, leaving an opening in the Supreme Court that has yet to be filled.

Picture of Supreme Court Judge Anthony ScaliaIn Scalia’s majority writing he clearly states “The Second Amendment is an individual right intimately tied to the natural right of self-defense.”

The “Natural right of self defense” is found in the writings of not only James Madison’s writing about the second amendment, it is found in the writings of many other of our Founding Fathers who helped write our constitution, its articles and first 10 amendments.

To understand the second amendment, as well as any other of the amendments for that matter, one must read the writings of our founding fathers to understand their meaning. The issue today is that people, even some highly educated people, have no understanding of what the second amendment is truly about or what drove our founding fathers to include it in our constitution.

I would submit that many, if not close to, ALL of our elected officials know little to nothing about the meaning of it, or any of the other amendments, as it requires research and reading about what the amendment was designed to protect, and protect against, from its author and other founding fathers to understand.

Today, our politicians have their own agenda’s, driven by special interest groups and donors that dictate their stance on the 2nd amendment. In the case of gun bans and abolishment of the second amendment, it has to be “personal agenda” driving their thoughts, not upholding the Constitution of the United States of America, as they stated in their oath of office.

American Liberty…. Our founding fathers were a very diverse group, but they were unified by their goal of Liberty.

Founding Fathers

It was Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence that sent shock waves across the pond and stirred the hearts of revolutionaries in the new world;

“We believe these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

Radical words and thoughts in their day, radical words even today in many parts of our world. Think about what Old Tom was saying…. He challenged the King at the time, effectively telling him that he no longer had supreme authority. He claimed rights come from Nature’s God and that it was time to rise up and secure these rights at any cost because it was the right thing to do.

His Declaration of Independence began a radical shift in political thought….individuals are not given rights by a Government or King, the power of that Government or king must be justly derived from the CONSENT of the governed. Rights would no longer be given to the people by the government; the government would be given LIMITED RIGHTS from the people.

In Thomas Jefferson’s America, people would pursue freedom and opportunity, with minimal government intrusion, with a central government that would simply protect the people and provide the environment for people to pursue happiness in any way they saw fit.

We’ve Made A Mess Of What They Died For

What a mess we have made of our Founding Fathers vision. I can’t imagine how they would react if they saw how destructive the government of the nation they risked everything to create has become.

I propose the biggest lie told today is when a politician places his hand on the bible and swears an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

After Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers went on to write the nearly perfect U.S. Constitution in 1787. They went on to ensure the peoples rights, adding The Bill of Rights in 1791. The title “Bill of Rights” is a bit of a misnomer, as The Bill of Rights sets limits on what the Government is allowed to do. It’s more of a bill of limitations on the government than a bill of rights for the citizens. They are all designed to keep the government in check. To ensure it does not interfere with the pursuit of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Bill of Rights is something ALL American must begin to understand.

Our right to speak freely, worship the way we want, be secure in the ownership of our private property and yes, own firearms are envied around the world today.

Erosion of America’s Freedom

Our Government tries to fix the problems we face today by taking little pieces of those freedoms away from us piece by piece by enacting laws that always seem to create more unseen or unthought-of of consequences. They respond by enacting more “Government Solutions” that only perpetuate this circle of madness.

Gun laws are the perfect example of this madness… If there is a rise in gun related crime, the solution to the politicians is to limit the rights of people who own guns. Never mind that less than 1% of all legally purchased handguns will ever be used in a crime, just penalize ALL the citizens for the acts of criminals.

bloombergThink about it for a moment…. It’s like attempting to ban cars due to the few criminals who drive drunk…. or banning alcohol because of the people who abuse it….OH WAIT…. We tried that….

Most people only see the small piecemeal regulations our Government place on what they consider “problems” in our society, so they don’t rise up and protest, They quietly watch their rights slip away , piece by piece, never large enough or quick enough to inspire them to protest or move them to action. It has been proven and shown in our society today, Michael Bloomberg feeding millions to anti gun movements to push his cause, Every Town against guns or Mothers against guns or what ever cover name he comes up with to advance HIS view of utopia. All of them designed to enact or pass local laws that chip little pieces of your second amendment rights away. He and his ilk are willing to spend millions on the grass roots level just to get one town to ban something as innocuous as a 10 round magazine, and that’s how it starts….one little chip…. First the magazines, then the type of gun. It is all in progress today, right in our faces.

rockriverar15

We have a whole class of politicians attempting to ban a firearm on its cosmetic traits, collapsible stock, numeric nomenclature (AR 15, AK 47), and spinning off traits of our military’s weaponry on publically available firearms. The firearms they claim are readily available to the general population are already banned for purchase by the general public by State and Federal laws. NO, you cannot buy a fully automatic assault rifle over the counter. NO, you cannot buy an “Assault Rifle” with a grenade launcher over the counter. Our politicians feed on the uneducated. Uneducated in this instance has nothing to do with your college degree or lack thereof. It has EVERYTHING to do with lack of understanding of firearms and firearm laws and FEAR that the media and politicians can put in your mind. It is also short sightedness on their part, not even considering the ramifications of their actions. If you support the loss of one of your rights guaranteed by our constitution, the right to bear arms, what is next, the right to free speech?

27d227f5_hillaryclinton_477131531_gettyvihrgw-xxxlarge_2xHillary Clinton has already gone on record, as well as Nancy Pelosi, decrying that speech they deem inappropriate, i.e. exposing their misdeeds, be banned. Which Amendment do you cherish that you are willing to have taken away?

Contrary To Popular Belief

We are not a Democracy, we are a Republic. Representatives of the people are chosen by the people to represent them on the state level and also on the national level. We have an electoral college that selects the President, not a popular vote.

In a Republic, the most qualified individuals from the people are chosen by the citizens to represent them in government. In a democracy people represent themselves. This is extremely important when viewing national politics and then looking at politics from a state level.

Again, or Founding Fathers wanted the states to govern themselves, with a limited Federal Government protecting them from outside threats, only making decisions concerning multiple states, regulating commerce and enacting treaties with foreign governments.

Our Founding Fathers were very careful in limiting the federal Governments powers, which is why they added the 10th Amendment to the Constitution that states that all powers not given to the Federal Government are given to the States and the People.

Each State was, and is able to enact their own laws impacting the citizens of that state. If one State, say Illinois, enacted a law that suppressed freedom of religion, the people would be free to move to another state that had no such destructive law. Every state could watch the experiments of the others and determine if the law was worth implementing it in their own state. This way a bad decision would not impact the Country as a whole.

This IS the advantage of a Republic over a national government.

We Are At A Freedom Crossroad

The Founding Fathers wanted pure Liberty, AMERICAN LIBERTY for the citizens of their newly formed Country. They had come from Kings and Queens and Royalty. They envisioned a Country where everyman was free to choose his or her own way without suppression from its government.

Is it dangerous? Absolutely not! People who are free are productive, creative and happy with the Government off their backs. The Federal Government should protect citizens from each other and outside threats, protecting people from themselves is a nanny state mentality that is not compatible with human liberty.

There should be some limitations, but they should be crafted by the States. Federal initiatives like the “War on Drugs” consume massive amounts of taxpayer’s dollars with very little benefit. Oh I know the naysayers will be swinging from the rafters after that statement, but I dare anyone to show hard proof that any drug is harder to get on the street today due to the above mentioned war. If individual States want to fight the problem, then they should, if they believe it’s the individuals right to do whatever they want to their body because they do not own them, then the people should have the right. It is just these laws, so clearly exampled through the “Federal War on Drugs” that consumes our tax dollars at an unserviceable rate, and imposes an unending flow of legislation and laws that impact our daily lives, some of which place us as suspects in the Governments eyes. Sell your car for cash and take your booty to the bank to deposit it. If it’s over $10,000.00 the bank has to notify the Federal Government. The list goes on and on, all under the guise of the “War on Drugs” The list is even greater from the “War on terror” your personal communications are tracked, recorded and kept under laws generated under the same guise “to keep us safe”. Clearly a violation of our 4th amendment rights, people were willing to give up that small little chunk to “Feel Safe”. And that is exactly how it happens.

The problem today seems to be that the media and our politicians use the 3% of the population that cause and creates crime to scare the other 97% into allowing them into passing legislation that limits ALL the people. Is it worth it? Ask yourself, what is FREEDOM worth? Our Founding Fathers thought it was worth their own lives. Have we lost sight of not only what our country is supposed to be, but more importantly what our Government is supposed to be?

The fight to interpret and change the Second Amendment has focused on the language and context of the words as we think we understand them today. I propose it’s neither the words nor how they are written. It is the thought that drove James Madison and our Founding Fathers to amend our Constitution to include that EVERY man has the inalienable right to defend himself. So much so, that it is called a “Natural Right.”

Justice Scalia referred to it in his majority finding, James Madison and many other of our Founding Fathers refer to it in their writings.

Beyond the Natural Right, our Founding Fathers generation believed that Governments were prone to using soldiers to oppress the people, see the Revolutionary War.

Much has changed since 1791. The traditional militia that is alluded to in the second amendment has fallen by the way side, replaced and incorporated into the Federal Military structure.

While we occasionally hear political rhetoric about federal tyranny, most Americans do not fear the nation’s military, and I doubt anyone thinks that an armed populace could defeat those troops in battle.

While the weapons differ significantly today from those that were held during our Founding Fathers day, and we no longer require the everyday citizen to be called into duty in a militia, we still have the natural right of self-defense, the right to keep and bear arms to defend against common criminals and in theory our own government.

Why Guns?

Why are the politicians so fired up on guns? Why not cars and trucks? Auto and truck accidents kill many more people per capita than guns do. Don’t believe it? Check the NTSB website, it gives all the data on the subject. There has to be more than deaths attributed to guns behind it. If they were truly concerned over the loss of life to their constituency, they surely would go after the auto manufacturers, right? So it can’t be about protecting people, so what is it about?

It’s all about CONTROL. A populace that is not armed is easy to control. Oh they may whine and complain, but they are incapable of mounting any real opposition to the ruling class.

The short sightedness of the politician is nowhere more evidenced than in France. They have been able to shove anything they wanted down the throats of the people, from firearms to immigration, without real thought to the long-term consequences of any of them. They are now living the consequences of those actions. They have created a place that not only harbors, but also grows terrorists free of the fear of retribution or interruption by the general populace. How’s that workin’ for ya’?

Control the firearms and it’s easy to control the people. We have seen it played out over the course of history time and time again.

The Gun Law Debacle

One has to look no further for the evidence of a well-meaning law having horrific side effects than the existing gun laws that are in place. Twenty plus years of empirical data from our largest cities clearly show that gun laws, some right down to complete gun bans only affect the law abiding citizenry. They do NOTHING to curb violence, NOTHING to protect citizens and NOTHING to promote safety or liberty. They have all been a grand experiment that has failed miserably, so miserably they are actually an indisputable study on the ineffectiveness of those gun laws and bans. Again, our politicians move to punish or restrict 97% of the people for 3% of the population.

gun-free-zoneThe magical creation of the “Gun Free Zone” has proven to be laughable. It has done nothing more than to create a place for an individual who is intent on causing serious harm, a safe and secure place to inflict severe trauma and death. Any one who claims one person with a firearm wouldn’t change the outcome of any mass shooting is a person who knows nothing about firearms. None of them understand that if you are witnessing an attempt at a mass shooting, one person with a gun can STOP the whole process with the press of his or her trigger, That COUNTLESS lives would be saved in that instant. The “Gun Free Zone” debacle only serves up a place of convenience for the next deranged person to make their stand.

Think about this…. Many people I know that wish to spend an evening with friends in a local pub designate one of the group a “designated driver.” Pretty good thinking right? What makes our politicians think that “we the people” are incapable of the same thought process when it comes to defending ourselves?

It’s the “Nanny State” of thinking that has permeated our political culture, the “cradle to grave” mentality that so many of our people look to from our government.

Wolves and Sheep

wolfpck2

I believe people fall into basically two categories today. There are people who are wolves and people who are sheep. Those that are wolves lead their own way through life, providing food, shelter and safety for themselves and their families. The sheep grazes and lives. Little does he know that he is ALLOWED to graze and live by a power greater than himself only for the purpose of slaughter.

People today give up their own control of their lives, trusting a politician to lead them through their lives, much like the sheep with the herder. I doubt the sheep think the herder would do them harm, if the herder works to move them to a new pasture they follow, if he moves them to slaughter, they follow.

A wolf lives in a social structure as well, but it constantly works to support itself and the pack. It constantly is on the watch for danger to itself and the pack. It constantly is checking its place in the pack.

There are those who blindly follow a politician or party today, never thinking that they will be done harm, never thinking they will be led to slaughter…. Again, See France.

How do we save our Country?

American flag flying in the wind

American flag flying in the wind

It’s time to teach our children what our constitution is and what it means. It’s time WE take the time to read the writings of our Founding Fathers about our Constitution and its’ amendments. Its time WE all learn what our Founding Fathers gave up and fought for when they decided to risk everything to create our country. It’s time WE fight to preserve it.

“THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED”