“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against the tyranny of government”. ~Thomas Jefferson
Can there be any question remaining about the intent of Our Founding Fathers in the crafting of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution ?
In case you need reminding:
“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”
And in case you are wondering about the Supreme Court and its position on the Second Amendment, I give
you the following:
| District of Columbia v. Heller | |
| Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Argued March 18, 2008 Decided June 26, 2008 |
|
| Full case name | District of Columbia, et al. v. Dick Anthony Heller |
| Docket nos. | 07-290 |
| Citations | 554 U.S. 570 (more)
128 S. Ct. 2783; 171 L. Ed. 2d 637; 2008 U.S. LEXIS5268; 76 U.S.L.W. 4631; 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 497 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Opinion announcement | Opinion announcement |
| Prior history | Provisions of the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 infringe an individual’s right to bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment. District Court for the District of Columbia reversed. |
| Procedural history | Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit |
| Holding | |
| The Second Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice
Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia |
|
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Scalia, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito |
| Dissent | Stevens, joined by Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Dissent | Breyer, joined by Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. II; D.C. Code §§ 7-2502.02(a)(4), 22–4504, 7–2507.02 | |
I repeat the holding:
”The Second Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed.”
As an “individual right to possess a firearm” I suggest that it is settled law.
The court did not say that the right was unrestricted. In fact, many individual states have laws regulating firearms within the context of the Second Amendment. Occasionally some politico or group being possessed of large quantities of ignorance or perhaps nefarious purposes will try to sneak in a law that does truly infringe on the individuals right in contravention of the laws intent.
In some cases individual states have declared either by their own State Constitutions, or legislation that anyone legally eligible to carry a firearm may do so openly in any place they have a right to be. This is commonly called “Constitutional or Open Carry”.
While it is true that some restrictions do apply, such as, you can not carry in a school, a post office, a courthouse etc. you do not need a permit to carry in the “open”.
Some states like my home state of Pennsylvania require a “Permit to Carry” if you are going to have loaded firearms in a motor vehicle. This does not impede your right to carry outside of a motor vehicle without any sort of permit. Pennsylvania, for my neighbors and friends has no “Concealed Carry Permit” that I am aware of so please, quit calling it by that name!
Now that we have established that owning and using firearms legally is a protection guaranteed by the Second Amendment, let’s delve a little deeper into Jefferson’s statement.
This Country had just participated in a war of eight years duration to secure the liberty and freedom of its people from the tyrannical rule of England who desired that we should pay for things she purportedly provided to us with no request on our part to do so. This of course is the nutshell version, so read some history to fill in the blanks for yourself.
Jefferson and the rest of the founders left out the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution, or should I say did not include the sentiments they contained. This was later corrected in order to satisfy those, including Jefferson, who feared that too much power could become vested in the Federal Government and that the states would become subordinate and the people subservient to its power if not checked.
The provisions of the “Bill of Rights”, or the first ten amendments include essentially what the people had fought the revolution to secure. Not really any more or less.
It was held that these were “Rights” conferred by the grace of God to man and that, as such, they were eternal and inalienable. Meaning they could neither be taken away, nor voluntarily surrendered rather as they existed by the very fact that God existed.
For anyone reading this who may be atheists, or believe that this somehow constitutes the establishment of religion, get over it. The Country was founded by men who believed in God and our individual freedom to worship God as we see fit. The First Amendment guarantees you “freedom of religion” and not “freedom from religion”. If you choose not to believe, I will respect that choice, just as I require that you respect mine to practice as I see fit.
Unfortunately, our country’s religious heritage has fallen into a state of disrepair, or more lack of practice. This may be a fatal flaw if not reversed, but that is a whole new article.
So, the Founding Fathers believed in and were men of God as am I. They well understood what the meaning of the word “right” was and that meaning remains to this day. “Rights” come from God; privileges are granted by government and are subject to the whim of the same.
Our Constitution establishes a “Constitutional Republic” which is predicated upon the rights of the individual. Many people today have been falsely led to believe that we are a “Democracy” which protects the rights of the majority. This is perhaps because our elections are generally decided by a majority vote, which has nothing to do with the actual form of government.
Jefferson and the rest of the Founding Fathers knew exactly what they were about and gave us documents in clear understandable English to begin our journey. Unfortunately, lawyers have laid so many layers of legal language into succeeding amendments as to mask, if not pervert the original intention of the document. This is its own form of tyranny.
The intention of our Founders however was that we should always have the means to remove the boot heel of too strong a Federal government from stifling and subjugating us into little more than a nation of surfs for the masters’ amusement.
Jefferson also said, “The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants”.
Could it be more plain why we have and must forever keep our Second Amendment as sacred, and essential to our liberty and freedom?