Gun Control


Individuals who possess the ability to think clearly and the wisdom to reason correctly are a rare treasure.
-jh




“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms…” – Richard Henry Lee, Federal Farmer No. 18, January 25, 1788


Gun Control legislation in any form violates the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution, “…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” A child in grade school can understand this statement. What is wrong with our legislators, courts and judges? Are they primarily ignorant or primarily dishonest? Whether or not you agree with the statement or choose personally to not exercise the freedom which it identifies does not change its validity.

Let’s view the statement another way, by modifying a few words – just to gain an unbiased interpretation and understanding of the verbiage being used:

“… the right of the ladies to keep and bear purses, shall not be infringed.”

Do you understand the above statement? It simply states that a lady may keep (or own) a purse; such as to have it with her in the privacy of her home. It further states that she may bear it with her (sling it over her shoulder or bear it in her hand) when she goes somewhere. If we change the noun “ladies” to the noun “people” it means that anyone, regardless of gender, may legally exercise this freedom. Further, if we replace the noun “purses” with the noun “Arms”, we have identified the right which is guaranteed by the simple language of the Constitution. Note that with this exercise we have not modified the structure of the sentence in any way – its meaning remains clear. This is not hard to understand. Try taking out your dictionary and looking up any of the words in the statement which cause you confusion. I suggest you pay particular attention to the transitive verbs “keep” and “bear”.

Additionally, the last word in the sentence, “infringed”, is critically important as well. The phrase “shall not be infringed” means that laws enacted which trample upon even the edges or the “fringes” of this freedom are invalid. Think about it.

I did not author the Constitution or the Amendments, but I can read. The authors of the 2nd amendment knew what they were saying, and they meant what they said. If you are uncomfortable living in “the land of the free” with all of the personal freedoms that are guaranteed by the United States Constitution, I strongly invite you go live somewhere else where you can enjoy less freedom. Joe Biden took an oath:

“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”

The oath which Joe Biden took requires him to defend not only the “United States”, but the Constitution itself. He took an oath to “support and defend” the Constitution– the entire Constitution. Now he chooses to defend and uphold only those parts of the Constitution that he likes. If Joe Biden had been an honest man, he would have modified his oath of office to include the phrase “I agree to support, defend and uphold only those parts of the Constitution that I personally agree with”. That would have been more honest. It bothers me that the citizens of this nation don’t care that our political leaders are dishonest. Whether we agree or disagree on policy, we should demand simple and transparent truthfulness from every political leader – regardless of party affiliation. It is unwise to remain complacent and apathetic. But I digress – now back to the topic at hand…

Numerous comments from our Founding Fathers as well statements recorded within the Federalist Papers solidify the existence and importance of the freedom to keep and bear arms.

“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824

“… Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785

“On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.” – James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789

“I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.” – George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4, 1788

“A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves…and include, according to the past and general usage of the states, all men capable of bearing arms… “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.” – Richard Henry Lee, Federal Farmer No. 18, January 25, 1788

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined…. The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.” – Patrick Henry, Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 5, 1778

“This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty…. The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.” – St. George Tucker, Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1803

“The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” – Samuel Adams, Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, 1788

“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” – Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, 1833

“For it is a truth, which the experience of ages has attested, that the people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 25, December 21, 1787

“As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.” – Tench Coxe, Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789


Think About…
We learn from history that we do not learn from history.
-Georg Wilhelm Hegel


“…life-and-death lessons of history are lost on too many Americans. Our Founding Fathers didn’t give us the Second Amendment for duck hunting or simply for self-protection in a country that at the time had a vast and yet unknown frontier. They bestowed it upon us so that we could protect our precious nation from devolving into tyranny as so many others have done.

Politicians who respect the American ideal don’t try to diminish the Second Amendment or blame it for other ills of society… but rather embrace it as part of the legacy of rights that helps keep America free.” – Quoted from the article After the Guns Were Removed, the Killing Fields Began” by author J. William Middendorf, former Secretary of the Navy, published in The Daily Signal .



“A Free People” – President George Washington


It is important to remember this: Our founding fathers did not give us the right to bear arms – they merely AFFIRMED our inalienable right to self-defense against any individual or political power who might choose to bring us harm.

The wise council of Alexander Hamilton is worth repeating: “…the people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 25, December 21, 1787

According to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming totalitarianism can’t happen in their country. Many Americans are making that mistake today, sleepwalking through the erosion of our freedoms.


“The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class – it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.” – Anna Julia Cooper


A brief summary:

“…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”