Amendment II
Not many people know the Bill of Rights was not originally included in The US Constitution. They may not have been included at first but they were an agreed-upon contingency of its ratification. In 1789, 1 year after the ratification, The Founders gathered again in Congress to build upon the foundations of The Rights of The People and further limit the power of the Federal State. It was there they outlined what authority the Federal State DID NOT possess over its citizens and solidified, for the first time in history, a government For The People.
Many people make the argument that The Constitution was written 250 years ago and is “out of touch” with the modern world. In response to that I ask - Do the concepts of individual Liberty, Rights to our own Life, and the Pursuit of our own Happiness really have an expiration date? No, They Don’t. These concepts are inalienable and are the rightful possession of every living being on this planet.
I would agree though that something is out of touch. Even though the concepts may be foreign to us, the truth is, that our Founders knew what it was like to live under tyranny and despotism. They sought to ensure this never happened again. They knew the only way to ensure it was to guarantee the citizen’s right to defend themselves from future tyrants and despots. That is precisely why they enshrined this right in The Second Amendment.
The Second Amendment is pretty clear to those of us who seek to preserve our Liberty. “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.” Put in the context of 1776, the term “keep” meant to own, and the term “bear” meant to carry. These truths are not disputed by scholars and lawyers but that has not stopped our legislatures from seeking to indirectly infringe upon the second amendment.
Washington wants us to believe they can protect us from criminal gun violence by making it more difficult for a law-abiding citizen to obtain firearms. Unfortunately for them, the FBI’s 2019 NIBRS Report on crime statistics says otherwise. This topic is fiercely debated all over the country. If recent events, in California and New York, prove anything it’s that the government cannot protect you from becoming a victim.
The value of our own lives is innumerable. Let’s stand together to tell Washington, and Trenton, The American People will not be made victims. We will not become the victims of a person’s psychotic break; We will not become the victims of a criminal; We will not become the victims of a government bureaucrat who doesn’t value our lives any more than the dollar amount we write on a check every April. We are The People and We will defend our Right to defend our Lives and Liberty.