Their main focus was liberty, based upon their experience as colonists in North America who had been loyal to the motherland of England. English laws had been adopted with some changes made to tailor to the conditions in the New World, and later to match constitutional law.
It was Thomas Jefferson who write the eloquent and timeless words of freedom in the Declaration of Independence and its opening paragraph …
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that 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.
The most appealing form of government came in two forms: democracy and the republic. The wise and learned Founders concluded that democracy ended up killing itself, becoming first a rule of the mob and then to oligarchy and finally, after a possible brief time of anarchy, become a totalitarian state. A republic was found to be better suited in protecting liberty and the people's government by a foundation of the rule of law, which is the Constitution of the United States, which would be a government by the People and for the People, providing a limited central government that was the national government in concert with the individual state governments that form a union, thus our country's name became the United States [of America]. The new government was formed to include three branches, [executive, legislative, and judiciary] each with its own responsibilities and each with its own limitations; intended to provide a check-and-balance system to ensure that none of the three branches would become too powerful. Today, the executive branch has evolved into a powerful branch, and depending upon who is President of the United States, can hold sway over Congress [legislative] as well as judiciary [Federal and US Supreme Court] – and, at the same time, dissolving the sovereignty of any of the states' governments. All of this was intended to be clearly prescribed in the Constitution of the United States. The Founders had a unification law during the American War of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, designed to be temporary until independence could be secured and then proceed to create a constitution that all state government and representatives could agree upon. It took eight years to complete the constitution in order to get it ratified by the states and the body designated to create it, 56 men, could complete a final draft and the ultimate result. They certainly were aware of how important it was to establish not only rule of law, but law that would prevent government from going beyond its limitations. They also realized that the Constitution only provided limitations upon government, but did not guarantee the liberties that the previous government had not allowed them to have. Thus, they created ten amendments which came to be known as the Bill of Rights. The People, however, were responsible to ensure that those they elected
I am sure that the Founders would first be overcome with disbelief and then weep as to what has happened to the rule of law that they so laboriously created and warned that if citizens would not safeguard it and retain knowledge of it, that it would be lost. As Ronald Reagan stated:
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. … Man is not free unless government is limited. … Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty. … Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
Reagan addressed one of the serious problems with modern government that has turned away from that which the Founders created:
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Today, there is a heated debate over the illegal immigrant problem, but as Reagan stated:
We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
And the truth is about big government:
No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
Big Government advocates, especially zealous are those who would reap the benefits, tell the people how much better their lives will be and how much the government does for them, they just have to incrementally give up liberties and rights established by the Founders.
While BH Obama has driven the United States further into bankruptcy than any other president – he did not invent Big Government in the United States – he just sanctions and promotes it. He is merely continuing what George W. Bush did, despite the promise of “Hope and Change” - and increased problems at least double-fold, especially the economy. He has more scandals ongoing than Bill Clinton did during his two-term tenure.
Paul Light at The Washington Post, a leading progressive concerning government bureaucracy admitted that the federal government had failed to prevent tainted meat, poisoned peppers, aircraft groundings, the Columbia shuttle accident, Hurricane Katrina, counterfeit Heparin, toxic toys [from China], the banking collapse [which led to corporate welfare by the name of “bailout”], Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab [underwear bomber] on the no-fly list allowed to board an aircraft, Bernie Madoff or even September 11 – can no longer guarantee the faithful execution of our laws. He also failed to mention that the federal “big” government does not enforce its immigration laws so we have well over 11 million uninvited lawbreakers working, living, and sending their children to US schools – many on at least one welfare program. The government failed to carefully consider and reach scientific conclusion when it came to TARP, and Neil Barofsky wrote that the $45 billion bailout of Citigroup was a consensus that appeared to be based as much on gut instinct and fear of the unknown as an objective criteria.
All that and those in the federal government and some state governments are attempting to do away with the Second Amendment. The People already lost most of their property rights, and in some respects freedom of speech; and the media has forgotten what their duty is: the eyes and ears of the People, not a mouthpiece for big government progressives or RINOs pretending to be “conservative”. Neither of these two groups are constitutionalists. That is why the Tea Party Movement began – to bring back the dynamics of freedom, liberty, and the roots of tradition established in 1776 and in the eight years it took to complete the Constitution of the United States. Christians are persecuted and told they cannot publicly display their icons and the fundamental laws of the Judeo-Christian faith in the form of Moses' Ten Commandments; as well as allowing students to even pray silently to themselves in schools because it might “offend” someone – totally disregarding that they are offending the religion that represents most of the country.
You might be asking by now: What does this have to do with firearms?
It is a look outside the box and the big picture – loosing rights in increments can occur if those intending to erase them are patient enough, and at a certain point when they feel confident they have enough sheeple to back them up - demand it for the “good” of the People. The sheep herder is no longer in charge because the wolf took the sheep herder's place and people STILL cannot see it.
While Ronald Reagan may have been accused [and those who think like he did] of being anti-government, he did not despise government, but looked at it as necessary, but must be restrained by the US Constitution and the electorate. He rightly stated that government IS the problem, but he also stated that it shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. The Tenth Amendment empowers state governments, not Washington, DC. As Reagan stated:
It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work – work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Americans are citizens, not subjects.
If Americans truly want their liberties returned in full, as the Founders designed and intended as a Republic, they MUST educate themselves because the federal government controls the educational system, which is another point against the Tenth Amendment. The People:
- must stop trading their liberty for false security.
- must take a good look at what the proper role of government is.
- Must stop thinking the role of the government is to be involved in all aspects of their lives.
- must understand that as government expands, liberty contracts.
- Must realize and apply that government is best which governs the least.
Now that overview has been covered, I will continue to discuss the Second Amendment and how the Founders decided to word it, which most of the Constitution is in clear language, not like today's legislation filled with gobbly gook, referring to this paragraph and that paragraph and other lawyer-leese language. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of pages are in a bill when it could be condensed to say what it is meant to do. This would also encourage legislators to read it in its entirety and with more care – ensuring that someone else hasn't slipped in some pork or benefit for their state that did not belong there or add some frivolous wasteful spending amendment. The Founders DID NOT intend for bills to be passed and then see what's in it. [I would be embarrassed if I lived in Nancy Pelosi's district in California and mortified if I had voted for her again and again]. She, John McCain, Senator Harry Reid, and Senator Dianne Feinstein are examples of what is wrong with our government.
Amendment II, Constitution of the United States:
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.
Thomas Jefferson and other Founders used Switzerland as an example of what the citizen militia can do in the defense of its nation against foreign and/or domestic enemies. The key figures in the founding and attending the Constitutional Convention were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. They never intended for our government to be a democracy in the true sense of the word, but a republic that adhered to constitutional law. The Founders realized, especially during the problems with the Barbary States, that a US Navy and its complement of US Marines were important in protecting not only the shores of the United States but its interests in maritime trade; but a large standing army was frowned upon – mostly from their experience with British troops sent by King George, first to “protect” the colonists, and then to quell the “rebellion”.
James Madison stated:
In the time of actual war, great discretionary powers are constantly given to the Executive Magistrate. Constant apprehension of War, has the same tendency to render the head too large for the body. A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.
Over the centuries, Switzerland, who adopted just such an attitude and thus the citizen militia concept while still maintaining a small “standing” army for security and keeping leadership and other training ongoing, worked well on into the 20th and 21st century. In comparing the homicide rates internationally, Switzerland has a very low homicide rate, yet one of the highest levels of gun ownership in the world. In 2009 there was 51 homicides, and the number of attempted homicides [ones that failed] with the following statistics:
1998 – 53 homicides with firearms
2007 – 27 homicides with firearms
2008 – 20 homicides with firearms
2009 – 24 homicides with firearms [attempted homicide with firearms was 31]
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| Bicycling to Local Firing Range |
Switzerland laws concerning armed lawful citizens with a conscript, stand-by militia, as a guide, our government should be also following what the Founders intended and what the Swiss have successfully accomplished. For one basic difference is the attitude toward firearms. As shown in the picture at the left, it is not uncommon to see bicyclists toting firearms on their way to a firing range for practice or competition – even on public buses and trains. As Daniel Zimmerman wrote in an article entitled Gun Watch:
Thus, as the Founders used the
... a armed society is a more polite and peaceful society. [Also: Bad Guys Get Guns Edition]
It is indeed horrifying to anyone when they read about things happening like at the Aurora, Colorado movie theater and the Sandy Hook School tragedy – but this is minute. The same government who sanctioned the murder of 80 people in Waco, Texas, of which one third were children under 18, is not mentioned. Twenty four of those Branch Davidian fatalities were British citizens. The media failed to mention that there were several people of minority groups, including “Black” Americans. Nor the shootout at Ruby Ridge where two unarmed persons were killed, one of them a young teenager. All because an overbearing big brother government pushed people too far. True that the Ruby Ridge folks were associated with local “white supremacists”, but it was all about a sawed-off shotgun, and constituted an entrapment by federal authorities later revealed. But what really disturbed the federal authorities, in this case the ATF, was two letters with threats of war in it. Randy Weaver, who lost his family in the raid was a former member of the Green Berets and so a military operation was in order to reach him in the secluded property. If the feds had not launched the military attack, and instead sent a plainclothes agent to the cabin accompanied by the local sheriff, it is thought that Randy would have accompanied them back to jail to get his day in court. Instead, the Weavers felt that the enemy big government was commencing a sneak attack, announced by their barking dogs. One of the dogs were shot, one of the boys shot at some bushes where agents were concealed after they shot his dog, and he was shot and killed. Then US Marshal William Degun was killed, after the other youth say Sammy Weaver fall, shooting back. It was all over when Randy's wife died from a sniper shot as she held a baby in her arms. In court, Randy stated:
They drew first blood, not me! They drew first blood!
These incidents promote a bad light on both sides of the fence – between big government and citizens who decide to make a stand.
Since Homeland Security was established by the Bush administration, big government has increased its strangle hold upon lawful citizens.
With all of the scandals that surfaced during the Obama administration, like government sanctioned gun-running that led to the death of a Border Patrol officer and hundreds of Mexican citizens across the border, the IRS acting like an American Gestapo, the NSA spying on citizens without warrant, and drones authorized to be used in the United States; who would not be fearful of the federal government?
We need to adopt the system and attitude that the Swiss have. We need to stop sending our men and women to fight another nation's wars. We need to have an army just big enough to make a stand and a quick reactionary force available to defend our embassies and its personnel. We need a strong navy and air force with high-tech equipment and continue to train all military personnel to keep them as effective as ever. Whether the American people would stand for conscription to serve in a training session and be sent home with their equipment, we need to ensure our government is reformed in many other ways, as well as reform ourselves, as a society. We already know from statistics that places where citizens can protect themselves has a fewer crime rate, so why don't we lower it even more by adopting the Swiss system? At least the gist of it.
Will there still be homicides, you bet. But I believe there will be fewer homicides than attempted ones if people are trained and armed to be the militia that the Second Amendment calls for.
I am an advocate that all lawful citizens can, if they wish to do so, be armed with a concealed weapon. If they have not served in the military, however, they must be trained on safety issues and how to use a weapon in different situations, concealed or not.
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