Friday, January 18, 2013

KEEP AND BEAR ARMS


 Can Congress legally pass a law to restrict “rights”?

We need an understanding of “rights” and the role of government.  You DO NOT have a “constitutional right” to have a gun and the 2nd Amendment did not give you the right to bear arms.

“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.” 2nd Amendment.

This does not say the government, constitution or this amendment gives you the right to keep and bear arms.  The 2nd Amendment, just like others, does not bestow a right upon the people, but prohibits the government from infringing on your rights.  Your “right” to keep and bear arms, to free speech, etc.; “shall not be infringed”! 

The 1st Amendment begins “Congress shall make no law…”  This amendment does not give the right to free speech, it prohibits the government from interfering in the rights we already had.

Neither the Constitution nor the government gave us these rights.  Our rights preceded both the document and the government.  The Constitution was written to establish a general government for a very few, specific reasons.  The Bill of Rights was added making it clear the government did not have the power to restrict “rights”.

If our rights did not come from the government or the Bill of Rights, where did we get them?  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”  (Declaration of Independence-DOI)  Our “rights” come from God.  They predate the Constitution and the government. 

God gave us “unalienable” rights.  This means that no one can take them; they are yours unless YOU relinquish them! 

The DOI goes on to say, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”  The government was formed by the people for the purpose of securing our rights. 

Our government has passed laws doing what they were forbidden to do.  They took the rights that people gave up.  The more rights we give away, the less liberty we enjoy. 

“A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." (John Adams)

“They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Ben Franklin)

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!" (Samuel Adams)

America sends our military to fight in other countries defending their liberty.  Meanwhile, we have been asleep while our government has been stealing our liberty, bit-by-bit.  As John Adams said, once we lose liberty, we will not get it back!