US Constitution, Amendment II

Ah, this one is perhaps my most favorite amendment, and, in my opinion, the absolutely most important amendment of all, for without it, there could be no others:

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.

Yes, for those who didn't already know it, I'm one of THEM. I'm a zealous gun-nut. I own a pile of guns and ammunition, and there's no possible way you or anyone else will get them without me dead. But anyway, back to the amendment...

This amendment was put in there in response to the ways the British tried to control people by taking away their weapons. Even back in the 18th century the founding fathers realized that by far the best way to control a citizenry would be to disarm them.

Throughout history there are examples of dictators disarming a populace and then them being destroyed or enslaved. Certainly there are other ways of crushing a people, as today's government has learned so well, but confiscation of arms is certainly the quickest way.

Many, many, many books and articles have been written about guns and crime. According to the Constitution, none of that matters. The Second Amendment absolutely ensures that NO ONE can take away arms from a free people.

Also note the distinction between this amendment and the first amendment -- the first amendment specifically applies itself only to Congress. That was the intent there, to only limit Congress and not other legislative bodies. However, the second amendment has no limitation. It applies to ALL legislative bodies -- no government entity or agency anywhere in this country may infringe on the basic right of people to bear arms (or arm bears).

The other great issue at stake here is the ability of the people to throw off a corrupt government. If the people are not armed, that simply is not possible. In the various writings of the founders, they specifically mention that one of the purposes of an armed populace IS to keep the government in fear of overthrow -- they knew there may come a time when the people would need to destroy this governmental system.

Posted by: Ogre at 02:03 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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