To Keep And Bear Arms

"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." - U.S. Constitution

These are the words of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. These inspired words were put into place by the founding fathers of our country as a safeguard from tyranny and oppression. Whether it was the British of Revolutionary times or the attempts of the Clinton/Gore administration today, the words ring just as true now as they did then, perhaps even more so.

I have long been a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms, and I have often done it with a sense of humor. Back in the late eighties, I had a T-shirt that had a polar bear carrying an assault rifle on it with the caption, "Support your right to keep and arm bears." It was always good for a laugh that often led to a discussion about one of the most dearly held rights of a free people.

I grew up around guns. As a 13 and 14-year old child, my father would take me and some of my brothers up to the gun club every Saturday morning for target practice. I always seemed to do better with a pistol than a rifle and felt more comfortable with them. I learned about safety, weapons maintenance and even how to properly transport a weapon, among other things. I had instilled in me a healthy respect for guns and treated them carefully and with great respect.

When I went into the military after high school, I had more exposure to weapons, to include grenade launchers, hand grenades and M-16’s that were capable of fully automatic fire. Today’s M-16’s can only do a three-round burst with each squeeze of the trigger. None of this exposure to weaponry ever instilled me with a desire to be a crazed or violent person. If anything, knowing what types of injury and death these weapons could inflict instilled in me a healthy respect for the sanctity of human life.

Not too long ago, a couple of interesting things happened in America as it pertains to the National Rifle Association (NRA). First of all, membership in the NRA soared as more and more people began wising up to the agenda of the current administration when it came to respecting the constitutional rights of the American people. NRA President Charlton Heston had the bylaws of the NRA modified so he could seek an unprecedented third two-year term, which he won. Also raising eyebrows was one of their senior executives Wayne LaPierre, who stirred the pot some when he said that the Clinton administration was willing to accept a certain body count as a means of promoting their anti-gun agenda. The reason LaPierre created a ruckus with his remarks was because he was right.

We need to keep in mind that the OFFICIAL position of the current administration is that there is no individual right to own a gun in the United States, and that the government can legally take guns away from anyone. Period.

In addition, Al Gore wants total gun registration. In Haynes v. United States (1968), the Supreme Court ruled that the government can not prosecute someone for not registering a gun if that person is prohibited from having a gun. In other words, convicted felons are exempt from all gun registration laws! Most people find this to be hardly believable, but it is true.

You have to ask yourself why Al Gore has such a bug in his shorts to push for this mandatory gun registration on the part of law-abiding folks when he knows that existing case law prohibits him from making criminals from having to register their guns – after all, the Supremes have spoken.

Prior to 1968, there was only one federal gun law on the books, and that prohibited private citizens from owning machine guns. Since then, over 10,000 federal laws have been enacted on the books, and NO measurable good has come from any of it. Numerous federal policing agencies have been created that serve no legitimate purpose to national security whatsoever. All they provide is a duplication of existing services.

The best example of a federal agency that isn’t needed is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The functions of the BATF could just as easily be taken over by the FBI. Had that been the case, and had they heeded the counsel of the Texas Rangers, the siege of the Branch Davidians outside of Waco, Texas in 1993 could have been handled in a much better fashion, and the lives of four agents and the seventy or eighty-odd something people inside the compound could have been saved.

Another dynamic to consider is in the countries where civilian disarmament has taken place. A few years ago, a wacko in Tasmania went on a shooting spree and killed 35 people in the process. Australia knee-jerked in its reaction and banned all private gun ownership by its citizens. All weapons were confiscated without compensation and destroyed. The result? Homicides, assaults and rapes were up some, and robberies were up a staggering 44%. In Great Britain, there was a shooting spree there at a school in Dunblane, and the tightened rules on guns there has resulted in an increase in crime there as well.

The Tenth Amendment to the United States pertains to States’ Rights, and the states have made use of it to benefit their citizens by passing concealed weapons legislation for average citizens who pay a fee and pass a criminal background check. In the 31 states that have these laws, crimes against persons are down. This is because the perps don’t know who’s carrying and who isn’t, and as such, they are more reluctant to take a chance of getting either their heads or something else blown off. After all, when it comes to the rough and tumble of the street, there is nothing like a gun to level the playing field between violent men and innocent women.

When it comes to protecting oneself, there is one thing I just don’t get. Governor George Pataki (R-NY) is very much unlike most of his Republican counterparts in other states. He is extremely anti-gun and isn’t willing to sponsor any gun rights legislation whatsoever. In fact, he has made the rules even tighter. So has New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is even more anti-gun than Pataki, which I assure you is hard to do.

Here’s the irony: If, in New York, you carry large sums of cash or jewelry such as wholesale diamonds, getting a carry permit is fairly easy. However, if someone is threatening you, you’re pretty much on your own. The police cannot shadow you 24/7, and so to a certain extent, you are left to your own resources. To New York bureaucrats, money and jewelry are more valuable than human life. It sounds to me like the Mayor, the Governor and the State Legislature have their priorities more than just a little mixed-up. This only goes to reinforce my belief that in New York State at least, that Republicans are really Democrats in drag.

The answer to the issue of guns in America is not more gun legislation on either the state or federal level. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t favor anarchy by any stretch. I’m not a supporter of the right to own Uzi’s or TEC-9’s. In my opinion, weapons of these types are made for one purpose and one purpose only – and that is to dispatch large numbers of people in short order.

What we need in America is a return to common sense (and not just when it comes to guns) and for people to wake up and take responsibility for their actions. By doing so, we can help liberate ourselves from the burdensome yoke that our federal government has become.

In doing so, we will be able to better prepare our children to appreciate the blessings of living in a free society.

You can e-mail your comments to Timothy at trollins@idirect.com.

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission