The Second Amendment

“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.” The 2nd amendment

This singular sentence, a bulwark of what allowed the United States to come into being, has become a subject of ridiculous division. Those 27 words draw the ire of so many based on nothing but fear and ignorance and, in reality, are the only words standing between us and tyranny. I’ll give you another phrase. 

“Those who would trade a essential Liberty for a little temporary Security deserve neither Liberty or Security.” Benjamin Franklin 

Now, to the point of this piece. It makes me sad what’s happened in Florida. It does, and the bastard should burn for it. But, in the trend of our over-emotional political climate, the event has been politicized into yet another divisive turn of events that has bred nothing but tearful shouting matches of unheard viewpoints instead of allowing those whose losses outshine our own to grieve. This conversation, surrounding the second amendment, has been a rather long-winded argument over what is, primarily, in insolvable problem. 

The first thing that must be remembered is a very simple concept of founding principles. The 2nd Amendment, a portion of the bill of rights, is arguably the most important of them all. During the argument for the constitution, the Federalists felt the Bill of Rights was unnecessary but the Anti-Federalists were able to successfully argue for it, and thank God they did. The whole point of it is to shackle the government; the things in the Bill are not rights granted to us by a government of mortal creation. Something granted by a government, or a man, can be taken away by the same. They are natural rights, god-given, that the government is not allowed to touch. Our rights come from a place that supersedes the jurisdiction of men and governments. The importance of the second amendment to this concept is this: an armed populace is the only thing that keeps a tyrannical government from taking our rights and, should they try (which is happening constantly) we have the arms to stop them or die trying.  Because the only way they can take something that comes from a place greater than them is if we willingly surrender those rights. That’s why the second amendment is so important. It’s not because of old-school thinking, or old dudes that want to hunt. It is critical to the preservation of our Liberty as a people. It is important because the people actively trading on fear to convince us to surrender those weapons will be the first ones in line to take our rights if we’re unarmed. In other words, my right to keep and bear arms isn’t negotiable, and shall not be infringed because I will not surrender all my other rights.

This creates an insolvable problem. Because weak people that are willing to sell their Liberty off for the promise of security,  security the government has proven it can’t provide, are screaming for the government to force disarmament. At the same time, conservatives are trying to be reasonable and talk “solutions”. The real issue, though, is that no one is talking about what causes these things. The real cause isn’t guns. Inanimate objects have no decision making power of their own. The problem isn’t the background check system. That’s just a database. Sure, all of these things have their part to play, but all of the talking heads want to find something to blame. So far I’ve heard:

*guns

*background checks

*bump stocks

*high capacity magazines

*video games

*music

*movies

*tv

*medications and big pharma

*more guns

*the NRA

*racists

The list goes on. The point is that no one is willing to consider the idea that perhaps none of these things are directly to blame. Everything that’s being pointed at are just stimuli; inanimate objects, ideas and organizations that people interact with that all have a part to play, but one that is so small that completely getting rid of all of them at the same time still wouldn’t solve the issue. Here’s the issue no one wants to discuss: THERE IS EVIL IN THE WORLD. You can’t stop it. You can’t ban it. You can’t undo it, shame it away or legislate it out of existence. If any of those concepts worked, the United States would be 100% crime free. If you need to see how much criminals respect laws, just look at Chicago. No, It exists, and our best defense is vigilance knowing full well that the evil in man is a crafty devil.

No one wants to discuss the darkness that can be fostered in the hearts of men because it doesn’t make them feel good. There’s no policy or solution that can be presented to kill the boogeyman. The reaction to this truth is exactly what we’re seeing play out now; since the truth doesn’t give them the warm fuzzies in their feels, they start looking for a distraction from it.  People, in their weakness and fear, want a symbolic solution that will allow them to feel safe. The reality is that “safe” feeling only indicates vulnerability, but they don’t care because it also allows them to remain in denial. And so They let their fear paralyze them instead of simply accepting and understanding the best option we have is for good people to stand up and fight the bad ones.

The beautiful thing about the United States, and the principles she was built on, is that no person or entity has the ability to strip away another’s rights under the guise of “public safety”. Because, at day’s end, there is nothing safe about an unarmed public. As much as those on the left choose to ignore it, criminals don’t care about laws. That’s why they’re criminals. Those intent on doing harm can always find a way to do so given enough time and willpower. You’re probably asking yourself about now how such a problem can be resolved. I can answer that, but many won’t like it what it looks like. The answer is we already have the answer. It’s just that too many people don’t want to face the responsibility of it; they’d rather task a government with it than have to do it themselves. But that’s not how this works. That is the definition of selling Liberty for promises of Security. We are in charge of our lives; that includes our Liberty, our Safety and our Happiness.

“What have you given us, sir?”

“A Republic, madame, if you can keep it”. Benjamin Franklin

The founders knew it would be up to the American people to defend themselves, from both evil men and evil governments, and they tasked us with maintaining what they built. I’ve got solutions coming in the next articles-stay tuned.