Yesterday I got yet another call from the NRA, a recording talking about how great they are at protecting my 2nd Amendment rights and how the President intends to take away all our gunz, oh, noez. Also: Nazis.
And it got me to thinking. I'm a huge fan of the Constitution. HUGE FAN. I spent over half my adult life under oath to defend it, and I took that responsibility seriously. But I have an admission.
Some aspects of the Bill of Rights are more important to me than others.
I'm awfully fond of the 19th Amendment, for example, since it guarantees my right to exercise my franchise as a fully equal participant in public life. I simply LOVE the 1st Amendment, as it guarantees me the right to speak my mind and relieves me of the burden of living a lie as it relates to my (lack of) religious belief. Basically, I'm rather fond of all the Amendments that protect me from my government.
Which brings us to the 2nd Amendment, the right to bear arms.
I have no doubt that when written, this Amendment was designed to do just that - protect the citizenry from the military might of the government. And it worked, as far as it went. As a general rule, the government does not routinely deploy its Armed Forces domestically to impose its will. Bad form, and all that.
But let's make no mistake - the government does not restrain itself in deploying those troops because they're scared the citizens are going to effectively marshal themselves into an effective fighting force with their .45 caliber handguns and hunting rifles. Seriously, folks - lay down the crack pipe and think about it. Do you really think your 2nd Amendment rights would give you any kind of fighting chance if the Federal government decided it was serious about giving you a beatdown using the full might of the Armed Forces?*
The Founding Fathers had no way of knowing where the technology would take us, of course. Tanks, RPGs, drones, on and on and on - all of it makes the idea of a "well regulated militia" kind of a joke.
No, what those who are interested in real power are interested in is violating your other rights. Such as the right to speak truth to power. And the right to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure (*TSA*cough*cough*). And the right to a trial, and to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment. Those are the rights that a corrupt and tyrannical government will abrogate in order to maintain their power.
I don't think we should voluntarily give up our rights under the 2nd Amendment. It's part of our heritage, and giving up anything that's guaranteed under the Bill of Rights gives the enemies of freedom an opening to have other, more pertinent, rights taken away. But I would like to see the rights that the government actually fears get a little more support. You know - just for fun.
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*I'm not talking about the fact that giving such an order might very well lead to either mutiny or the refusal of unlawful orders, depending on your point of view. We're talking about the original intent of the 2nd Amendment, here, not the psychological ramifications of using the Armed Forces against its citizenry.
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Sorry about the typos, folks. Having a hard time with the editing function on my phone, and I'm not in a position to edit on a PC today.
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