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| Battle of Guilford Courthouse, 15 March 1781. (Source) |
ARTICLE [II.]
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.
I'm confused, which of those words don't they understand?
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| Battle of Trenton, 26 December 1776 (Source) |
"A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined..." - George Washington, First Annual Address, to both House of Congress, January 8, 1790
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787
"What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787
"The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." - Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776
"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks."- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824
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| Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, 19 October 1781 (Source) |
"On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823
"I enclose you a list of the killed, wounded, and captives of the enemy from the commencement of hostilities at Lexington in April, 1775, until November, 1777, since which there has been no event of any consequence ... I think that upon the whole it has been about one half the number lost by them, in some instances more, but in others less. This difference is ascribed to our superiority in taking aim when we fire; every soldier in our army having been intimate with his gun from his infancy."- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
"To disarm the people...[i]s the most effectual way to enslave them."- George Mason, referencing advice given to the British Parliament by Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, June 14, 1788
"I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers."- George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4, 1788
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops."- Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787
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| (Source) |
Questions?
I refute any (and all) Supreme Court arguments with two words: Dred Scott.
(Source for the quotes above are here.)
Admiral Yamamato once said that there could never be a successful invasion of the US, as there would be an armed American behind every blade of grass.
ReplyDeleteAnd he was absolutely correct. That's one of the reasons for the Second Amendment.
DeleteThe other is if our own government starts getting out of hand.
Jefferson's watering of the Tree of Liberty
DeletePrecisely.
DeleteAnd so it should be.
DeleteAmen!
DeleteWhat does it say about the Democrats, that they want an unarmed populace, one that can be ruled, rather than administered.
ReplyDeleteIt speaks volumes.
DeleteIt does speak volumes and as we all know, it's all about control. You cannot
Deletecontrol a populace that can defend itself!!
Unfortunately, The Republicans are moving ever closer to the same position. The Senate Majority leader has now stated he is "open to post Orlando gun control," whatever that is, and the presumptive GOP nominee for President has gone to the NRA to talk about adding the terrorist watch list to the NICS checks. Now, that may seem a no brainer, except there is no due process involved with the terrorist watch list. The Executive branch has control over who goes on it, you have no right to fight being on it, and, in fact, you have no right to even know that you are on it. Franklin's quote about Liberty and Safety is spot on.
DeleteRuss - You've got that right!
DeleteBill - I have to say that the RINOs are in the process of destroying the GOP. The watch list as it's currently set up is obviously not working.
DeleteBen Franklin was a very smart man.
One would guess that you have an opinion? Come on, say it.
ReplyDeleteWhat, it's not obvious James?
Delete;)
No questions. Well done, Sarge!
ReplyDeleteThanks Juvat.
DeleteThe charade on the floor of the Senate yesterday was typical Democratic smoke and mirrors. There is no “gun show exemption.” At every gun show if you buy from a dealer you MUST go through the back ground check. If you buy a weapon on-line they MUST ship it to a FFL licensee in your state who will conduct the back ground check. The only way to avoid a back ground check is through a sale from individual to individual which covers selling a weapon to your next door neighbor, or friend, or transferring your weapons to your son.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the “no fly” list, or a list maintained by the FBI, is that individuals placed on such a list are NOT notified that they have been so identified. There have been numerous cases of people who have been listed without rhyme or reason. For example, Senator Edward M. Kennedy was on the “no fly” list. No one could identify how he got there (although I can understand that some might have thought he had terroristic tendencies) and it proved difficult to remove his name from the listing.
If you are going to take away an individual’s constitutional rights it should require, at the very minimum, that the individual be notified that they were being placed on the list, the justifications for doing so, and be given a chance to appeal the decision in a timely manner (30 or 60 days). If the government does not provide the individual the opportunity to appeal before an unbiased judge within the time period the government MUST remove the individual from the list within 10 days.
I feel pretty strongly that if the government is intent on mucking about with people’s constitutional rights based on mere suspicion that they should be held to very high standard. Of course, the Senator from the People’s Republic of Connecticut seems far more interested in appealing to the Democratic base than he is to “support and defend the Constitution” which is the oath he took.
In my view, 90% of those holding office (or position) are in violation of their oath. To me that's treason and should be judged in that light.
DeleteConcur on all of your points Dave, well stated!
This speaks to the oath which many posting here took once, or more than once.
DeletePaul L. Quandt
Truth!
DeleteAn oath I remember (took it multiple times) and still honor.
Timely post, and just chock full of fundamental examples of how twisted our Politicians (Supreme Court included) have become in betraying their oath of office. One reason they really do not care is that for all practical purposes they are not affected by the decisions they make.
ReplyDeleteJudicial "activism" is heinous and should be treated as a capital crime.
DeleteObviously you put a lot of effort into reserchinn the post.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Thanks Skip.
DeleteEveryone to go into my list of quotes. Battle of Guilford Court House has particular meaning for me as my forefathers, being members of the NC militia, were part of that first line. My intended landing back in NC will be w/n 20 miles of that battlefield.
DeleteSoCal, we would very much like an on scene report from that battlefield.
DeleteIt's only a 2 hour drive down from the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford VA which we have a standing agreement to meet at when you're in DC and I'm settle in NC. Would love to walk the field with you.
DeleteReally?
DeleteThat would be awesome! (And yes, that WILL happen one of these days.)
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
ReplyDelete(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 14; Pub. L. 85–861, § 1(7), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title V, § 524(a), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1656.)
Pretty much all of us.
DeleteThank you. I have always considered the Second Amendment to be quite clear. That's one of the reasons I tend toward voting Libertarian, as they have never once wavered from a stance of 100% on NON-gun control.
ReplyDeleteI have always liked the Libertarian policy of actually reading the document AS WRITTEN, not as interpreted by the Supremes and other lawyer-types.
DeleteI remember reading, a long time ago, the notion that if in the early days of the holocaust the victims had resisted by using deadly force the final death toll would have been enormously reduced. No way to know of course, and the resistors would still have died, but they would have died free, which is better than going numbly to slaughter.
ReplyDeleteNever, ever, ever think that your government will not slaughter you, or that your friends and neighbors will not stand by or even assist. Never, ever, ever think that your town council or county board will not order your arrest and execution.
At every level of government, with as few exceptions as makes no difference, the folks we've put in office are in wholesale violation of the Constitution, the founding principles of our Republic, and of any shred of honesty and human decency.
Your friends and neighbors are the same, with very few exceptions. Don't believe me? Just ask a few what they think about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Then imagine those folks faced with the choice of standing with you or standing by. They'd feel bad afterwards, those who survived.
If the crash holds off for a few more years it'll be a moot point to me, and to a lot of you. But think of your kids and grandkids, and how much they'll enjoy going to the gas chambers.
Couldn't happen here, could it?
Well stated Shaun!
DeleteThere has been NO American president, from G. Washington down to the present pretender, who has not violated the Constitution in some wise.
DeletePaul L. Quandt
You have a point there, Paul.
DeleteIt's a human enterprise, so there's no way it can or could be perfect. However, this nation has veered so far from the principles of human equality, sovereignty if the individual, and natural rights that it's beginning to make pre-war Italy, Japan and Germany look rather benign.
DeleteRe Geo. Washington, the Iroquois Nation called him the town burner rather than the father of the country. We have to look at that stuff square in the face, fess up to where we were wrong, and resolve to not make the same mistake again. Look what we did to the Japanese citizens during WWII, and look at theses terrorist watch lists, the freaking usa patriot act, homeland security, tsa, the us justice dept. Then look to Italy, Japan and Germany in 1936. Sure, it can never happen here.
And regarding justice dept. and the courts when it comes to gun control, those people have a vested interest in maintaining a violent criminal class in our country. How else to send their kids to the orthodontist and kollidge?
America can still unfiretruck this mess but it's going to take the work of a lot of thoughtful Americans who have thought about their responsibilities and who carry through with a willingness to be citizens rather than AILO's. That will probably not happen without a lot of boats being floated on seas of tears and rivers of blood. But it might, and every human has the capacity to be and do good, so I'm not completely pessimistic.
We named a nice helicopter after those flea-bitten savages after all.
And years later they would fight and die for this country. (For instance, 1SG Poolaw from yesterday's post.)
DeleteIn the past we did learn from our mistakes. Can we do so again? Lord knows we've made a few lately.
How do we define "Arms?" I am interested in owning an Apache Helicopter and a few nuclear war heads, the Constitution seems a little vague on my rights to purchase these arms.
ReplyDeleteIf you can afford them, they are not prohibited by the Constitution. I get your point, but that's not the point.
DeleteWhat if those six million Jews had been armed?
Bracken: What I Saw At The Coup
ReplyDeleteBing/Google this.
Oh my yes, that would get some leftist knickers in a twist for sure!
Delete