By Richard D. Fry
“If in the opinion of the people the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates, but let there be no change by usurpation; for though this in one instance may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.”(Emphasis added.#
— George Washington, Farewell Address, September 17, 1796
The gun control debate always fails to visit the first and the most important issue. What does the Constitution allow?
Although many people ignorantly believe it’s impossible for We the People to interpret the meaning of the Constitution the reality is the Constitution was written for the average citizen not the attorneys, judges and elitist. #Note 1# In fact James Madison, who wrote the Constitution, was highly critical of those who did not write laws that were understandable to the average person:
“It will be of little avail to the people that he laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what it will be tomorrow.”
James Madison
The Second Amendment provides as follows:
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. #Emphasis added#
The Second Amendment tells us that the federal government may not “infringe” on our fundamental right to “keep and bear Arms”. “Infringe” according to Webster’s 1828 dictionary meant “Broken; violated; transgresses”. #Note 2# Clearly the federal government has indeed been infringing on We the People’s right to “keep and bear Arms”.
Prior to the 1930s gun regulation was purely in the hands of the states. #Note 3# Except for the federal requirement that those in the militia supply themselves with firearms and accoutrements for militia service it made no requirements of citizens regarding firearms. #Note 4# It was during the socialist FDR period that the first federal infringements of citizen gun ownership occurred. In 1934 the National Firearms Act was passed by Congress and then in 1938 the Federal Firearms Act was passed. #Note 5#
During President Johnson’s Great Society program and following the assassination of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed. #Note 6# Then in 1987 President Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. #Note 7# Each of these unconstitutional acts was an ever greater infringement of our Second Amendment by the federal government.
The Congressional members who sponsored, supported and voted for these federal usurpations violated their oath to protect the Constitution under Article VI Clause 3 and committed “treason to the Constitution” has did the Presidents that signed them into law and the executive officers that enforce them.
Some may argue that had Congress really wanted to legitimately modify our fundamental rights to “keep and bear Arms” they could have sought an Article V amendment to the Constitution. I suppose there are some Constitutional items that may be modified in such fashion but our fundamental God –given rights are inalienable. This means such cannot be taken away nor may they be given away even by a Constitutional amendment. Remember the Constitution’s purpose is not to give us rights but to limit the authority of the federal government. All the rights mentioned in the Constitution and especially in the Bill of Rights are pre-Constitutional rights.
The most fundamental God given rights we have are to Life and Liberty. The right to self –defense is a derivative right of the right to life. The right to arm our self is a derivative of the right of self-defense. Without a right of self-defense and a means to carry out such the right to Life becomes meaningless.
The primary purpose of the militia of the several states, as noted in the Second Amendment, was so We the People #and the states# could keep a check on the federal government and its standing army. #Note 9# The Constitution does not allow the federal government to have a national militia but only to use the militia of the several states under very specific conditions for very specific purposes. #Note10# Of course the federal government has violated this restriction in that it has created a national militia in the form of the Army Reserve and National Guard.
The federal government’s infringement #violation / transgression# on our right to bear arms is not only a violation of the Constitution it is a violation of our God-given right to life and self-defense of ourselves and our duty to protect our family and under the duty of alligance to protect our fellow sovereign citizens.
Moral obedience to God requires we not honor such “laws” and we throw out those who have so violated their oath to the Constitution.
Notes
1. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 #2008#; McDonald v City of Chicago 561 US 3025 #2010#
2. INFRING”ED, pp. Broken; violated; transgresses ##Webster’s Dictionary 1828##
3. Sandy Froman, The history of gun control, part 1, WND #06/07/2007 at 1:00 AM#https://www.wnd.com/2007/06/
4. Militia Act of 1792, #May 2, 1792# https://www.constitution.org/
“That every citizen, so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch, and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear so armed, accoutred and provided, when called out to exercise or into service…”
5. Sandy Froman, The history of gun control, part 1, #These bills included the licensing of gun dealers and regulating possession of machine guns.#
6. Sandy Froman, The history of gun control, part 2 WND #06/14/2007 at 1:00 AM#https://www.wnd.com/2007/06/
7. Sandy Froman, The history of gun control, part 3, WND #07/12/2007 at 1:00 AM#https://www.wnd.com/2007/07/
8. inalienable##Webster’s Dictionary 1828##
INA’LIENABLE, a. [L. alieno, alienus.]
Unalienable; that cannot be legally or justly alienated or transferred to another. The dominions of a king are inalienable. All men have certain natural rights which are inalienable. The estate of a minor is inalienable, without a reservation of the right of redemption, or the authority of the legislature.
9. The Federalist Papers No. 28 #Hamilton# Penguin Group #1961#
10. U.S. Constitution Article I §8 clauses 15, 16