…it is, quite simply, about preserving liberty.  When hearing discussions regarding the second amendment, I quite often listen to people give their ‘take’ on what the second amendment means.  Many, on both sides of the gun control debate, treat the second amendment as though it were an isolated paragraph that was arbitrarily thrown into the constitution.  Even many of those who support private gun ownership do not seem to fully appreciate what the second amendment is really about.  The second amendment is part of the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the constitution.  For those who don’t know, those 10 amendments that we know collectively as the bill of rights were ratified together in 1791.  All 10 of these amendments have one common theme:  To protect American citizens from an intrusive, tyrannical federal government.  The constitutional framers knew that our American ‘experiment’ in self governing would eventually be threatened by the growing power of the federal government.  All 10 of the amendments contained in the bill of rights are there to prevent the federal government from becoming a totalitarian regime.  If you want to understand the second amendment read the third amendment.  Read them all.  It is preposterous to believe that 9 of the 10 amendments in the bill of rights are about protecting citizens from the overreaching government and the remaining one (the second) is about ‘Hunting’.  Of course it’s NOT about hunting!  The second amendment is the ‘glue’ that holds the entire bill of rights together.  The other 9 amendments contained in the bill of rights have no teeth if it weren’t for the second.  If you look throughout history, one of the first things an aspiring dictator does is disarm the citizens.  He is then able to systematically remove any and all of the rights and freedoms the population has and there is nothing they can do about it.  An armed population is what keeps our country free.

I have heard some say: “The founders wrote the second amendment with single shot, muzzle loading muskets in mind, not semi-automatic, high capacity magazine containing handguns in mind”.  That is again preposterous!  The founders guaranteed the citizens the right to own the the very same firearm technology the government had then and now.

I have heard others say: “You don’t need an AR-15 to hunt”.  To that I say, so what!  Again, the second amendment says nothing about hunting.  The second amendment guarantees citizens the right to bear arms.  Which arms I choose to own and bear is my decision, no one else’s.  The idea that someone else can decide what I need and therefore regulate what I am allowed to have based on their opinion smacks of Marxism.

I have heard some say: “We have to find a balance between gun rights and safety”.  That is nothing more than an thinly veiled first step toward gun control.  Anyone who cares to actually look at statistics on gun crime would see that these measures don’t add safety to society.  In fact, look for the regions in our country with the toughest gun laws and you will find the highest levels of crime involving guns.  Turns out that criminals and would be criminals aren’t deterred by tough gun laws.  Who’d have guessed that criminals would ignore laws?  Weird!  Right??  What does happen in these regions where tough gun laws exist is that law abiding citizens are left defenseless against the criminal element and crime levels are elevated.

Whether you choose to own firearms yourself or not.  The constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms is the key element that keeps our country free.  Your neighbor’s right to own and bear arms keeps your right to freedom of speech from being suspended.  Because our society is armed, you are protected from an intrusive government as well.

If you feel you are safer far, far away from guns, I would challenge you to turn your property into a ‘gun free zone’.  Simply post a yard sign in your front yard stating that your property is a gun free zone and that no firearms are permitted on your property.  This sign will protect you from criminals who may want to burglarize your property or assault you or your family members since they will not be able to enter your property with a gun.  ‘Cuz the sign says no guns…