Why Do Americans Need Guns?
The Minuteman
The Minuteman

The second sentence of the US Declaration of Independence reads; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“Unalienable rights” are rights which cannot be altered, suspended, changed, or withdrawn FOR ANY REASON. They cannot be temporarily suspended in the name of “the greater good”, or for the duration of some local or national emergency. This has been upheld by American courts many, many times. This concept is not up for debate.

“Endowed by their Creator” means that the government has absolutely nothing to do with bestowing the thing – in this case the rights being discussed. They come from God… FROM GOD! Not from the Congress. Not from the President. Not from your local Sheriff. They come from GOD! The US Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution did not create these rights, they merely recognized them!

The 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution further declares; “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.”

Much has been made by the anti-gun lobby about the “true meaning” of this seemingly awkwardly sentence, but the fact is clear that our Founding Fathers intended that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” That fact has never been successfully challenged, and has been upheld by American courts over and over again. (See my article “27 Words” for a deep dive on how to better understand the meaning of the 2nd Amendment.)

If you accept the documents upon which our country was founded then it is without question that God Himself bestows on Man the right to own and carry arms. God does that, not the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or the remaining 17 additional Amendments, but God Himself. This is not a subject for debate; it is without question. If you think that my premise here is invalid – or maybe just plain stupid – then you know nothing of our government, our country, our history or our laws. If you disagree with the basic concept presented here then you should renounce your citizenship and leave America, because that is one of the PRIMARY tenants upon which our country was built.

Now that we have agreed upon that basic fact let’s look a little further and ask why the Founding Fathers were so adamant that Americans be allowed to keep and bear arms? Simply put it was to ensure the continued freedom of all Americans and to provide Americans the means to defend themselves against an oppressive government and to overthrow that government if necessary.

What? Overthrow the government?!?  Damn Blind Pirate, you’re crazy!

Let’s look at the FIRST sentence of the Declaration of Independence… “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

“Oh”, you’ll tell me, “ya, but they were talking about breaking away from England, not about revolting against the American government.” Really? What happens when the American government itself longer adheres to the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, either in whole or in part? Our Founding Fathers were accounting when they wrote the 2nd Amendment.

The 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with hunting, sport shooting for fun or collecting valuable antique firearms. It has everything to do with creating a society that cannot be oppressed by its own government. This was not a theoretical debate for our Founding Fathers. They were facing just that situation in their own lives and wanted to ensure that their descendants would have recourse should that situation develop again in the future.

Why do Americans need guns? Because free and unrestricted ownership of firearms in America as bestowed by God and codified in our 2nd Amendment rights ensures the continued existence of all of our other rights.

The 2nd Amendment is about resisting unlawful search and seizure. It’s about resisting the unlawful confiscation of private property, of firearms, of stockpiled food or medical supplies as many Acts and Executive Orders – both old and new – currently threaten. It’s about resisting a government that would limit free speech, and the freedom to assemble or petition the government.

The 2nd Amendment is about ensuring that Americans have a means to resist a small group of elitists elevated by us to positions of power who believe the government is America and that the people are simply there to support it with their tax dollars.

In an extreme case the 2nd Amendment would be about resisting a government bent on ethnic, religious or political cleansing… like that in which the German government engaged just 80 short years ago, within the lifetimes of persons still alive today… only a few years after they passed a law which drastically limited private ownership of firearms in Germany!

It is not unreasonable to foresee a time when the 2nd Amendment may be about resisting a government that has drastically over-reached well beyond the strict limits imposed by our Constitution and ratified by the states that comprise this Union of ours.

Don’t compare American to other countries. People in other countries aren’t Americans. Do they have the same unalienable rights also endowed by their Creator? Hell yes, they do! But they do not live under the US Constitution. Most of the other governments of the world do not recognize their citizens’ unalienable rights, nor do they believe that any are bestowed by the Creator!

Don’t tell me about how banning guns in England has worked out so well for the British. First off I would argue your “facts”, and second, I really couldn’t care less how it’s worked out for them. I choose to keep and bear arms, and it is my UNALIENABLE RIGHT ENDOWED BY MY FREAKIN’ CREATOR TO DO SO!

If the rest of the world wants the rights that Americans have sacrificed so very much for then maybe they should rise up, overthrow their oppressive governments and establish a new government that DOES recognize their basic UNALIENABLE RIGHTS ENDOWED BY THEIR FREAKIN’ CREATOR!

Ah ha! But that would require an armed populace, wouldn’t it! And if a populace were – oh, I don’t know… DISARMED – wouldn’t that mean that an oppressive government could do as they damn well please?

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