"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms..." Thomas Jefferson
"Little more can reasonably be aimed at with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed..." Alexander Hamilton
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms" Richard Henry Lee
The Second Amendment does not "grant" the right to keep and bear arms,
but rather protects it from usurpation. The right has deep root in English
common law and is related to the common-law right of self-defense.
The battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 represented a firm stand taken
by the colonists against confiscation of their arms by British soldiers.
Forty-nine colonists died in those battles, so this obviously was not a trivial
matter to them.
When the Constitution was written a mere decade later, the infringement by a strong government upon their right to bear arms was fresh in the minds of our Founders, so they explicitly prohibited their new federal government from repeating this travesty. Or so they thought.
In recent decades, this right has been in as much under attack as it was in 1775. While no "red-coated" federal troops march through our towns, overzealous Presidents and misguided members of Congress have sought to accomplish the same objective, step-by-step. And thanks to courts sympathetic to their crusade, the erosion of our rights is proceeding, though unconstitutionally.
In order to understand why this trend is such a national tragedy, let us
look as some facts.
The freedom of the individual, the peace of the community, and the independence
of the state all depend upon a substantial portion of the adult population
having firearms. It is a hallmark of society in a constitutional republic
that citizens have rights and responsibilities. Ownership of (and proficiency
in the use of) a well-maintained firearm is not only a right, but a responsibility.
Again looking at common law for guidance, the family, as the basic unit
of society, has the primary responsibility for certain functions, including
its own material support, the religious and practical education of its members,
and self-protection. Since everyone must sleep or leave home on occasion,
people have delegated others, primarily their local police, to supplement
their own self=protection. But this does not relieve the head of the household
from protection his own family, nor does it excuse him from assisting his
neighbors - when necessary - in the protection of the community at large.
(The posse raised by the Western sheriff was a perfect example of this role.)
But the founders had more critical issues in mind when writing the Second
Amendment. Richard Henry Lee said" "To preserve liberty, it is essential
that the whole body of the people always possess arms." Lee knew that possession
of arms by the people provides a roadblock to government officials intoxicated
by power, a force to repeal invaders, and protection from civil turmoil and
anarchy.
Let's make a comparisons at both local and national levels.
In 1981, the city of Morton Grove, Illinois banned handguns; subsequently
the number of burglaries increased.
In 1982, the city of Kennesaw, Georgia passed an ordinance requiring heads
of households to keep at least one firearm in their homes.
In 1995, Kennesaw Police Chief Dwaine Wilson testified before the House
Judiciary Committee: "Kennesaw is an armed community, but a very peaceful
community. After 1982, crime, particularly armed crime, in Kennesaw dropped
off significantly.
·In 1976, Washington, DC instituted one of the strictest gun-control
laws in the country. The murder rate since that time has risen 134 percent
(77.8 per 100,000 population) while the overall rate for the country declined
two percent. Washington, DC politicians find it easy to blame Virginia's
less stringent gun laws for the DC murder rate. Yet, Virginia Beach, Virginia's
largest city with almost 400,000 residents, has had one of the lowest rates
of murder in the country, 4.1 per 100,000.
· In Switzerland, every draft-age male is required to maintain a
firearm in his home, yet the Swiss murder rate is only 15 per cent of the
U.S. rate.
An added benefit: No foreign enemy has invaded Switzerland in centuries.
In contrast, a 1971 Cambridge University study showed that in heavily gun-controlled
Great Britain, "the use of firearms in crime was very much less before 1920
when Britain had no controls of any sort."
· Gun-Control in an attempt by government to disarm its law-abiding citizens.
Those who say the 2nd Amendment pertains not to the people- but only to the National Guard - ignore the fact that the other nine amendments on the Bill of Rights are not so limited, besides, the Bill of Rights does not grant rights - it prohibits government from intruding upon them.
· "Gun Rights" and all other rights go hand in hand. One cannot defend just one right. A government powerful enough to curtail one right can deny all others!
·In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.
From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves,
were rounded up and exterminated.
·In 1911, Turkey established gun control.
From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves,
were rounded up and exterminated.
·Germany established gun control in 1938.
From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend
themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
·China established gun control in 1935.
From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves,
were rounded up and exterminated.
·Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves,
were rounded up and exterminated.
·Uganda established gun control in 1970.
From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were
rounded up and exterminated.
·Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
From 1975 to 1977, one million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves,
were rounded up and exterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million. The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, ask them who do YOU want to round up and exterminate?
With guns, we are citizens. Without them, we are subjects. Something to think about... Don't let the liberal media control your mind (If you value your freedom, Please send this on to all of your friends.)
My personal thoughts:
What we need is a responsible government that makes laws in the open &
not behind closed doors and who will take responsibility for their actions.
This might be a little more possible if they lived with the people they represent
rather in illegal (because you are supposed to be a resident of the community
you are representing) elite communities far from the people they claim to
represent.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
{GWA says check THESE out: "Don't use my tax money to buy America's hangin' rope. U.S. bloody Civil War is nearer today" http://www.americanchronicle.com}
"American taxpayers are being forced to subsidize their own displacement" http://www.vdare.com/fulford/subsidies.htm ; "GOP Congress Earmarks $4 Million for Leftist Pro-Illegal Alien Group" http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=10623}
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."
-- Thomas Jefferson
*************************************************************************"The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave" by Heather MacDonald
See the COLOSSAL costs of illegal aliens to the American taxpayer:
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"Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada"
("For The Race everything, for those outside The Race nothing")
-- Motto of MEChA, one of the nation's largest publically-funded organizations with cells on high school and college campuses across the USA (Note: Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez says he "used to be" a member)
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"How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico" By John Dillin http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0706/p09s01-coop.html
Excerpt:
"General Eisenhower ... quoted a report in The New York Times, highlighting one paragraph that said: 'The rise in illegal border crossing by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government ..."
Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower's first attorney general, said the president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took office.
"America was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large scale," Mr. Brownell said. "When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint."
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Just two of MANY American cops murdered by illegals:
"Unfortunately, the majority of illegal aliens who are here are engaged in criminal activity. Identity theft, use of fraudulent Social Security numbers and green cards, tax evasion, driving without licenses represent some of the crimes that are engaged in by the majority of illegal aliens on a daily basis merely to maintain and hide their illegal status. In addition, violent crime and drug distribution and possession is also prevalent among illegal aliens. Over 25% of today's federal prison population are illegal aliens. In some areas of the country, 12% of felonies, 25% of burglaries and 34% of thefts are committed by illegal aliens."
-- Testimony of District Attorney John M. Morganelli before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border, Security and Claims [Note: 99% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles, California -- the USA's 2nd most-populous city -- are for illegal aliens]
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
-- Samuel Adams
"All great truths begin as heresies."
-- Former Democrat Governor of Colorado Richard Lamm, official of Defend Colorado Now, a movement opposed to illegal immigration and public services for illegal aliens