By George E. Emanuel
In a previous article about the Founders and their views on the Second Amendment and why they drafted it to protect the Citizens from the Government one little word was not mentioned but, it was likely an underestimation of the controversy that would one day swirl around the Second Amendment, even, and especially til this day.
The word is “parity”. A few synonyms for parity are co-equality, equality, par, and equivalency. To ascertain this unstated intent, we must look at the history and the extent to which the Revolution formed their opinion and provide us with the context in which to read the Second Amendment.
To arrive at a useful knowledge of the true meaning of the Amendment we need to have at least a fundamental understanding of the conflict and the war in its totality.
It is a quintessential fact that the First Ten Amendments to the Constitution were included as they represented the most egregious of the wrongs the King had put on his subjects in America.
First Amendment – Protects freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.
Second Amendment – Protects the right to keep and bear arms.
Third Amendment – Prohibits the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner’s consent in peacetime.
Fourth Amendment – Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures; requires warrants based on probable cause.
Fifth Amendment – Ensures due process of law, protects against double jeopardy and self-incrimination, and guarantees compensation for seized property (eminent domain).
Sixth Amendment – Guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, to be informed of charges, to confront witnesses, and to have legal counsel.
Seventh Amendment – Guarantees a jury trial in civil cases over a certain amount of money.
Eighth Amendment – Prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
Ninth Amendment – Clarifies that people have rights beyond those listed in the Constitution.
Tenth Amendment – States that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people.
The list is an encapsulation of the ten amendments. It is recommended however that you read the original document wording. Not only is the language exquisite, but it is written plainly enough that even today we can look beyond the poetry of it straight into its’ heart and true meaning.
Which brings us back to my point.
We hear much from the anti-gun zealots about what we do or do not need for hunting, sport shooting, self-defense, and a myriad of other ‘legitimate’ reasons to ‘allow’ firearms to be held in any portion of modern society. This is all done under the guise of the innocuous-sounding moniker of “interest balancing’ which loosely translated into contemporary English means “they win, we’re screwed.
What is modern about Nazis, Stalin, and Chairman Mao, Pol Pot or Idi Amin? They were just thugs on a much larger scale. The Bible is replete with tales of murder, theft, lying, cheating, adultery, and other crimes which are quite modern. But are they, or do they point to the man who is so dark on the inside that no light has penetrated his soul for millennia after millennia? Why would we think this has changed?
The Revolution was fought with muskets, rifles, pistols, swords, knives, cannons, on land and on the sea. In other words, every weapon available at that period was employed. Now……. Wait for it…………. On both sides. The British indeed had a better supply of these, but the colonists were also well armed, though shod, not so much.
Numbers being equal, there is no battle, at least none that any of us has heard of that we lost because the British had superior weapons. In the beginning, training was an issue, but the Prussian Von Steuben rectified that eventually at Valley Forge in the snow.
It was tactics that ruled the battlefield, maneuver and counter maneuver, the skill of the soldier equal in arms with his opposing counterpart, except in one huge area. The Colonists had the grit and determination to win their freedom against the most powerful army in the world at that time. They were fighting on their land for their homes. They had no other choice. But thank God they had parity when it came to arms.
Contrary to what we have all heard from many Presidents, mostly of one political party, we do have a right to a machine gun, and in fact if they are going to wield an F18 against us we have a God given right to one with which to defend ourselves. The fact that we don’t does not negate the validity of the statement, but his certainly suggests how they truly look at the Citizens of OUR Country.
We have all seen at one point or another, whether is print, or on the silver screen, it is not a good idea to bring a knife to a gun fight.
Isn’t it quite the coincidence that the same political ideology which would have us joyfully surrender our arms is also the single biggest threat to our freedom on the planet? And I mean on the planet. Forget the Chinese, or the Russians, they are at bay because we have the means to resist.
The party of repression and confiscation are one body, with no fewer than two faces. As the indigenous Americans would have said, “They speak with forked tongue!” Let’s call it what it really is, they are liars, period, full stop.
Please do not accuse me of accusing the supporters of that political party with being complicit, until I do so.
OK now I am saying that those who voted for the party of despotism are guilty of supporting despotism.
It pains me to say this, but my eye is clear. Do they not see what is happening? Do they not hear the voices of their leaders? Do they not fear the future of their vision? Or are they really lemmings being lead into an abyss of turpitude?
We have a very small window in which we have a scant chance of securing our future freedom and the legacy we will leave to our children. I pray that the leaders of the opposition party are not about to blow this opportunity as it may well be our last. But, I have little confidence in a body of individuals who have been elected specifically to represent us, but who really have done a superior job of representing themselves.
If you find this hard to accept, explain this! How does anyone entering Congress with modest means at best, manage to leave with multi millions of dollars in net worth?
You say it is only true in one or two cases, so that’s OK? How many would it take for you to get off your apathetic ass and get them out of office and into a jail cell.
And if that is not your job, than whose is it?
Thank God, that the men and women of the Revolution had the fortitude to fight and prevail against nearly insurmountable odds, and united long enough to give us the greatest Country the world has ever known.
So when you think of the Second Amendment, ask yourself how am I going to put this off till tomorrow, when I may not have the means left to act tomorrow if I don’t stand up today?
Parity was a small word that may have been left out of the Constitution, but we must hold it close in our breast when looking at the True Meaning of the Second Amendment.
Get a copy of the Constitution, they are free, just Google “free Constitution.” No Excuses valid.