“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,
US Constitution
All the US Amendments are crucial to our
Republic and the 2nd one gives us a focus to understand our founder’s
intentions. Let’s take a look at it.
Short, concise and to the point. When written
there seemed to be little discussion, probably because the founders lived the
reality of the peoples’ fate, if the simple truth of the statement was ignored.
Today we feel generally safe from our neighboring countries and we have armed civil
servants who can come to our aide when called. We have been lulled into a false
sense of security, unlike that of the first generations in this nation. It is
easy for us to believe that our founders needed something that we no longer
need the same way today.
It would be a huge mistake to suppose such and
make that assumption. The founding fathers had plenty to say about the reasons
for this amendment, which we can gleam to make a common sense analysis.
"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole
people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave
them."
George Mason - Co-author of the Second
Amendment 1788
"Firearms stand next in importance to
the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and
keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present
day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and
happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere
of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of
honor with all that's good."
George Washington
"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow
for those who do not."
Thomas Jefferson
It was obvious to these men that the right to
bear arms was to protect ourselves from anyone, within or without, who would
overreach to take or limit our liberties as defined in the Declaration of
Independence and Bill of rights, whether invaded from outside our borders or
somehow by the newly tri-partite government with a bi-cameral legislature if it
failed us.
As I alluded to above, sometimes we forget our
founding fathers took time to consider all these facts and wrote our founding
documents, rules and government framework with a vision that includes thoughts
for future generations. We can miss it when current events “seem” too elaborate
and conclude our current governance is deficient for solutions. But that
thinking only leads to arrogant, convoluted, ill-placed conclusions in opposition to the intent of our nation’s founding. Common sense will direct us,
teach us and support our founders’ intentions if we apply it.
Dr.
Ben Carson is a good example that supports this
conclusion. He is recognized as a man with unpretentious common sense. Bought
up in the ghettos’ of Detroit definitely gave him a sense to the dangers of
violent groups who demonstrated weapons as power to control communities and
disregard the liberties of others in contrast to their rights of liberty. I
assume he had no other context growing up for the purpose of guns other than the negative example he witnessed. He knew if the
wrong people had guns it could be a disaster for the community. Until his
famous speak given at a prayer breakfast in front of president Obama in 2013, he had no reason to
seriously consider the 2nd amendment until asked about it by Glen
Beck in February 2013. Many radical right wing
conservatives hailed his answer inadequate for a presidential run based only on
this before Ben considered other opinions about the issue. I understand the
concern but have seen Dr. Carson seriously consider other opinions and weighed
them against the intentions our founders had for the second amendment. He has
recently published some of these thoughts as an opinion piece in the Washington
Times, April 22nd 2014. I’ll let you
read it, but Dr. Carson has shown he is capable of understanding others
viewpoints and consider them against our founding fathers objectives. This
common sense approached is outlined in his book, One
Nation, which you need to read. He has decided that the
2nd amendment, drafted by our founders, is critical to keeping our
republic stable and safe.
“The Second Amendment was crafted by wise citizens who recognized
how quickly an enemy invasion could occur or how our own government could be
deceived into thinking it had the right to dominate the people.”
Dr. Ben Carson, 4/22/2014
For those, who at one time, considered Dr. Ben
Carson might fail us on the second amendment, rest assured that he will up hold
our constitution wholly and completely (in contrast to our current president)
if we convince him to run for president in 2016.
"The great object is that every man be armed." and
"Everyone who is able may have a gun."
Patrick Henry
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