Fight For Freedom

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of 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 bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.

~ Noah Webster





"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 Second Amendment.


Recently, the Supreme Court lifted the D.C. handgun ban in a 5-4 vote in the case Heller vs. The District of Columbia. Two things really frightened me about this decision. One, that it was such a close vote. Two, that there was such outrage over the decision. In particular, that so many people are still parroting that horrific phrase, "The Second Amendment is obsolete and we should re-examine it."

WHAT???

The Second Amendment is second. You wouldn't hear people saying (at least not so directly), "Eh – who needs freedom of speech?" Yet person after person gets all, "Oh, well, guns kill people."

First of all. If I hear one more person say "gun violence," or see one more bumper sticker saying "Guns kill," I'm going to stick a fork in my leg just to distract myself from the pounding headache. After the Heller verdict, 1010 WINS was interviewing people who were upset about the decision, and one woman actually said this: "How could handguns be legal? I have a four-year-old. He'll see it and think it's a toy."

I'm just gonna give y'all a chance to let that sink in.

I'll let it go at the moment, how much I hate when parents act like their mad reproductive skillz should turn the world to revolve around them. And in the future, we will discuss what George Carlin has to say about this. But for now, what I would really like to ask that lady is, are you seriously going to tell me that the Supreme Court, by upholding the Second Amendment in the Bill of RIGHTS, was irresponsible, as opposed to say, whoever would a) leave a gun lying around where a four year old is chilling, b) leave a four-year-old to chill by himself, and c) not teach her kid what a GUN is?

When I was four, I had a toy gun. It was awesome. Metal, heavy, and it clicked. Never once did I not get that that gun was a toy, but guns that weren't toys…weren't toys. I don't understand how it could be simpler. And don't get me fucking started on that one moronic "Truth.com" ad that simultaneously villifies guns AND weed in one ignorant swoop.

We need to stop basing everything on the idiots of the world. Yes, there are irresponsible parents who'll leave guns around. That is a shame. Really, it is. But it has absolutely nothing to do with the Second Amendment.

The problem is, we are so far removed from anything resembling reality, in terms of oppressed nations. It's really easy to say, "War is bad, guns are bad" when most of us in the U.S. have never been an oppressed people and on top of that, we're an ignorant, extraordinarily self-involved nation.

But while there are many reasons that the Second Amendment needs to stay put, I want to focus on the main reason it should never be altered, and we should never allow the government to tell us that the amendment applies only to the military.

The government controls the military.

Why would we ever want the same people who make the laws having all the guns? To many, that might sound ludicrously paranoid. But think about it. Imagine that all citizens gave up their guns. Are we relying on the government to look out for us out of the goodness of its heart?

We already give WAY too much over the government because we think they have our best interests at heart. Our money, our kids, our whereabouts, our everything. Little by little, we get lazier and lazier, and give the government more and more control, because nobody wants to do the heavy lifting, and nobody wants to make a fuss or look crazy. If the government doesn't take care of us, who will?

So we entertain notions like, "Maybe citizens shouldn't be allowed to have guns." What that means, by extension, is:

"Maybe citizens should in no way be able to feed themselves without the government's permission." No guns, no hunting.

"Maybe citizens should in no way be able to protect themselves from criminals." And let's talk about this for a moment. Because if we can't protect ourselves from criminals, then only the government can. There's already enough fearmongering from politicians. More on this in my presidential blog, but the government just LOVES to tell us all how much we need their protection from harm! We need to be less, not more, reliant on the government. Furthermore, if we can't protect ourselves from criminals in our own homes, then we allow the government into our homes even more than they already are through the Internet and the television. And don't get me started on GPS navigation.

"Maybe citizens should in no way be able to protect themselves from the government." That, to me, is the scariest one of all, and the be-all and end-all why we must fight to protect the Second Amendment more than any other. Because all that they need is that one kink in the armor, for us to bend over and say, "Sure, why not, we don't need that one."

If we don't have the Second Amendment, not one of the other amendments is guaranteed any longer. Because we have nothing to back up our freedom. If we hand over our weapons to the government, they are free to do anything. If we do not have the freedom to arm ourselves, we will not have the rest of the Bill of Rights for much longer. You can say, "Sure we will." Why? How exactly, do you know that?

The Bill of Rights was written to ensure liberty for citizens. The people. We've completely flipped over, and the power is not really resting with the people anymore. Because with great power comes great responsibility, and no one wants responsibility anymore. It's hard for many to grasp the concept of people laying down their lives because they believed that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights, that cannot be taken away.

Rights. Our rights. It is my right to own a gun. We talk so much in this country about "rights." Why not accept one that is explicitly written out, and important enough to be placed second on the Bill of Rights?

"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." If we as American citizens give up our right to arm ourselves, to defend ourselves against power gone bad, we're sitting ducks. Let's not give the government any more power than it already has, and let us never give it absolute power.











©2008