A well-regulated
Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. –The Bill of Rights
I
consider my Second Amendment Right to bear arms as the most important single
right under the Constitution. Some
people may believe this strange; however, it is this right that allows me to
actively protect all other rights guaranteed by our forefathers. Here are a few examples of what our founding
fathers thought about the right to bear arms:
"No free man shall ever
be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the
right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against
tyranny in government" - Thomas Jefferson
"The very atmosphere of
firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a
place of honor with all that's good"-- George Washington
"The best we can hope
for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed." - Alexander Hamilton
"They that can give up
essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty
nor safety." -
Benjamin Franklin,
"The great object is
that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun." - Patrick Henry
It seems that they had a pretty
clear opinion about firearm ownership.
As most of you know, I enjoy watching conservative commentary on
television. The O’Reilly Factor is one
of my favorite programs, and for the most part I believe that Bill gets it
right. However, I disagree strongly with
him on the gun control issue. I believe
that he means well, I just think that he is badly misinformed. If you watch his program, you can easily see
that he is not well versed in firearms. He
does not know the difference in semi-auto and automatic, and believes that AR
style weapons are considered heavy weapon
systems. He, like so many pundits try to
articulate a point without being educated on the nomenclature of the different
weapon systems. Bill has also made the
comment that anyone that wants to own an assault rifle to protect themselves
against the government is a loon. He
could not be more wrong, we have only to examine this quote to see the folly of
his statement.
The most foolish mistake we
could possibly make would be to permit the conquered Eastern peoples to have
arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races
to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so. – Adolf Hitler
Also, a common analogy from the far left is that the
founding fathers did not take into consideration the advances in weaponry when
the Second Amendment was written, once again I must disagree. When the Constitution was drafted muzzle loading
rifles were the vanguard of technology in weaponry, however, they were not the
only weapons used in that era. The founding
fathers could have very easily said that citizens should be allowed only bows,
arrows, and swords to be possessed by the citizenry. Instead they left the description of arms open
for future generations, knowing that technology would advance through the
ages. Our founding fathers used the most
advanced weapons of the time to obtain the freedoms we enjoy today; therefore
it stands to reason that it was their intent we be allowed access to the best
weapons to fit our needs in order to preserve our way of life.
For the
last several days, the all the media outlets have been inundated with propaganda
concerning gun control. As of today,
President Obama has appointed Vice President Joe Biden as the head of a new Gun
Violence Task Force. VP Biden was one of
the authors of the 1994 Gun Control Act, and one of the most anti-gun members
of the Democratic Party.
Here’s the problem with Gun
Control, it doesn’t work. When you enact
gun control on a population that already has over 300 million weapons within its
populace, the only people who get restricted are the legitimate gun
owners. You do not stop criminals from
obtaining a gun by placing restrictions on gun sales, because criminals do not
obtain guns through legitimate sources, and with the amount of guns already in
circulation, it would be a virtual impossibility to stem the black market trade
of guns in the United States if all gun production was ceased immediately. Additionally, the shipping routes used by
drug smugglers into the United States are well developed and only marginally controlled
by federal agencies. The flow of cocaine,
meth, and other illicit drugs pours into the country virtually unchecked. By banning assault weapons in the United
States, we would only create a new market for illegal gun trafficking from
other countries.
Let’s talk for a moment about
Assault rifles and high capacity magazines. What makes an assault rifle an
assault rifle? Is it the caliber of the
round? No, assault rifles come in a variety of rounds and these same rounds are
used in single shot, bolt action, pump, and lever action rifles. Is it the round capacity? No, the magazines on most assault rifles are independent
of the weapon system and vary in capacity, as do magazines for hunting and
sport rifles. So what makes an assault rifle
an assault rifle? The correct answer is
the rate of fire. An assault rifle fires
either fully automatic or at a burst rate of several rounds with the single
pull of a trigger. And assault rifles
can only be obtained in the United States with a specialized license that
requires an in-depth background check by the ATF. These licenses are difficult to obtain and
very expensive. What most people call an
assault rifle is just a military Style weapon in a semi-automatic configuration. The reason the rifles are popular is due to several
issues, one of which is pop culture. The
ergonomical design of the weapons makes them attractive to sport shooters and
their compactness and ease of use make them a viable option for home defense. There
has been a stigma attached to these military style weapons over the last three
decades due to their portrayal in violent movies, however, internally, they are
no different than your grandpa’s repeating hunting rifle.
As to high capacity magazines
for weapons, it only takes one bullet to kill.
High capacity magazines are a convenience for sport shooters, hunters
and for home defense. Anyone bent on
participating in a mass killing can train themselves in very little time, to
reload a 10 round magazine and maintain the same rate of fire as someone with a
thirty round magazine if fired from the same semiautomatic weapon. If you don’t believe me and wish to make a
bet, come by my house, bring money, and I will instruct you on what is called a
combat reloading sequence.
Today, Dianne Feinstein made the comment, “Weapons of war do not belong on
our streets, in our classrooms, in our schools or in our movie theatres”. Does
anyone else notice that these are areas where citizens are typically banned
from carrying guns (without a carry permit, and in some cases they are still
banned)? I submit to you, that
education, enforcement of current laws with the harsh penalties, and public
awareness are the key to stopping mass shootings in our country. A weapon in
hand does no harm; it is the heart that commits acts of evil.
Congresswoman Feinstein, like so many liberals believe that the solution is
more government control. They believe
that Americans are no longer smart enough to take care of ourselves, and that
they need to take control of every facet of our lives. They want to make the American people into no
more than pets in their private terrarium, where we are allowed to come out and
play, but only under their supervision. They
will control what toys we have and what we eat and drink; and we will be happy
just surviving.
I don’t think
so…
The tree of liberty must be
refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
-Thomas Jefferson
-Thomas Jefferson
Tytler’s cycle of Democracy:
Bondage
Spiritual Faith
Courage
Liberty
Abundance
Selfishness
Complacency
Apathy
Dependence
Bondage
Spiritual Faith
Courage
Liberty
Abundance
Selfishness
Complacency
Apathy
Dependence
Bondage
Where are we in this
cycle?
