Category Archives: Firearms

The US Constitution Is As Plain As the Federalists (Who Wrote It)

THE SECOND AMENDMENT SECURES FOR the individual a right to keep and bear arms to preserve the security of a free state. A plain and solid reading of the language our forefathers fought and died many of them to leave us as our greatest American inheritance is not solely a restriction on the federal government. It is a restriction on ALL governing bodies. As one will note upon reading it, there are no local, state, federal or UN qualifiers. This amendment fears and contradicts ALL levels of government.

“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.”

Arguments about the Second Amendment are always exercises in etymology, and turn on lynchpin definitions of a single word or another. We should point out that the Federalist concepts would only allow the phrase “well regulated” to mean, and thus it still means simply—prepared and quickly ready for action,—not to be confused with some knee jerk variation of half-blind power-seizing heavily controlled by a government deconstuctionist’s impulsive reworking of the term. What would be the point in that?

A “free” state standing is the form of government established by the Constitution as it was originally written and intended. If not, pray tell, what on earth were they trying to establish? Many have noted that the Second Amendment makes itself plain as to where the right to keep and bear arms resides: It is a right of “the people.”

We must agree. For we notice that the writers acknowledged three different entities when describing to each the powers that are called into existence with the ratification of the founding document of this nation.

The entity designated the states is not the primary issue in the Second Amendment. Enumerated elsewhere are the powers of the states. The same holds true for any specified powers the governing bodies of the United States of America are called to exercise. So let’s be clear. This specific power of the right to bear arms is given specifically to The People all within the sensibilities informing the federalist republic the founders struggled to invent.

Man is bestowed by God the Creator of Natural Rights the primary right to defend himself, his family, and his community against aggression to the quiet enjoyment of these rights, even against an unjust government, foreign or domestic, as it infringes his own natural liberty. And when utilized as an effective tool in the sporting conservation of natural wildlife while providing food for the tables of tens of thousands of numbers of families, it defies common sense to consider abridging this very sacred right, a right when infringed is the very definition of social oppression.

The people of this country are guaranteed quiet enjoyment of their liberties with the responsibilities they command. We are taught, or at least, we once were taught never to sacrifice liberty for some temporary security, for he who does deserves neither liberty nor security.

The Second Amendment reinforces the principle the Declaration of Independence embraces wherein it was recognized that We the People have the God-given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the right to resist by a show of arms when specifically an oppressive government has breeched the peaceful call of liberty incumbent to a Free State.

All manners of public airing and effective redress of grievances become ineffective or unavailable in the case of an immediate threat against our life, liberty, and property, regardless of what Karl Marx or Mao Tze-Tong believed. This is the argument in a nutshell. One does not have a viable “right” unless he also has the ability to protect and defend it. We must agree, emphatically, as Americans, as rationalists, as seekers of liberty—the anti-constitutionists of whatever political persuasion have no standing until a greater power arrives.

Doesn’t the recent Norwegian tragedy with all its ready-made hyperbole and suspicious evidence of the killer’s ideological pedigree prove our point, all the more plainly, one more time. Norway’s population has no access to guns, not even the police. And yet…

What Makes a Good Shotgun?

OR RATHER, WE MIGHT PUT IT THIS WAY, what makes a shotgun good?

There’s been a fair amount of debate here amounting to “My shotgun can whip your shotgun”. Maybe some dialog on what we want and expect from our shotguns is in order. This can apply to both “Serious” and recreational shotguns. Here’s my [set of] opinions, none graven on Tablets of Stone. A good shotgun should be….

Reliable. A failure rate of LESS than 1/200 rounds is minimal.Most modern US made repeaters qualify.

Durable. A use life of upwards of 35K rounds. Again, most modern US made repeaters can do this, some with a bit of small parts replacement.

Comfortable to use. This means fitting the shooter, of a weight consistent to the Rule of 96 with the load of choice, and capable of being shot many times in a short time period w/o pain. Ergonomics fit in here, and so does a clean, light but safe trigger.

Appropriate to the mission. 410s should not be used for pass shooting geese, nor 10 gauges weighing 12 lbs lugged through alder thickets for woodcock.

Appropriate to the shooter. That 10 gauge in pixie hands is punishing to use.

Affordable. Either on base price or per use. A $1K gun that lasts 50K rounds may be “Better” than a $500 gun that barely makes it through 25K.

Esthetically pleasing. This is completely subjective.

Capable of quick and effective deployment. Most shotgun usage, from crisis management to quail hunting, takes place in short time frames. The weapon, in the hands of THAT shooter, must be fast but sure.

Uses commonly available ammo. No 24 gauges. No 2″ chambers.

That’s about it. What do YOU think?

Thanks to Big Dave McCracken for the perfect shotgun theory detailed above, as he adds, “It’s the pianist, not the piano.” Works for me, as well.

Of Gun Laws And Purse Strings

ONCE AGAIN, THE U.S. SUPREME COURT has left the black community defenseless against armed gangs and thugs who terrorize and plunder law-abiding Americans.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Chicago’s handgun ban. Gun rights groups hailed the ruling as a seminal moment in their ongoing fight to roll back restrictive gun-control legislation. As far as the National Rifle Association (NRA) is concerned, McDonald settles the matter once and for all: “This decision makes absolutely clear that the Second Amendment protects the God-given right of self-defense for all law-abiding Americans, period.” Be that as it may, the McDonald decision is really a victory for and about black Americans. At least it should be.

Read it all.

CONSIDERING THE SECOND AMENDMENT

As breaking news that an illegal gun ring has been snared in a sting by the Feds hits the media wires as I write this with the knowledge that the Supreme Court will soon address the right to bear arms issue again in a case from Chicago, it is more important than ever to remember why the Second Amendment is important, even precious to Americans who understand the consequences of ignoring the much maligned US Constitution.

We who appreciate the wisdom of our learned and conceptual founders have no choice but to oppose those in favor of touchy feely gun eradication laws, which leaves us helpless to defend ourselves and our families from intruders of every stripe, and worse, creating an environment where the rise of an oppressive fascist government intent on enslaving or abandoning its citizenry is inevitable.

Mari Thompson of Second Amendment Sisters offers a sterling remembrance.

A COMMON ERROR in Constitutional interpretation is the failure to examine the document in the context of its original meaning. In fact, Thomas Jefferson once wrote to Supreme Court Justice William Johnson, suggesting to him that when examining and interpreting the Constitution, he should study the time in which the document was written, and “carry himself back to that time.”

This would seem to be good advice for today. The recent Heller vs. DC case might have gotten more votes in favor of Heller had the Supreme Court of today done just that.

We certainly know that during the time of the writing of the Constitution, every male citizen above the age of 16 was counted as a member of the militia. All males were assumed to own weapons (which most of them paid for), and be ready to muster when the call came. Of course, the first call for the militia was to fight the British in what has become known as the American Revolution.

Today, as during the early days of this country, the people are still the militia, in the usage of the word at the time of our founding. The actual purpose of having armed citizens was to guard against an overbearing government. In the inimitable words of our National Spokesperson, Suzanna Gratia-Hupp, when speaking to Senator Chuck Schumer and other members of a Senate committee: “The purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect all of us (the people) from all of you (the politicians).”

We now live in a country that has been promised “Hope and Change” by our new president. Since we have no details of what “hope” and what “change” he was speaking about during the election, the Second Amendment is more important than ever. We must be ever more alert to signs of any government entity trying to erode the God-given and constitutionally enumerated right to keep and bear arms and all other constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Mari Thompson is President of SAS, and is also one of its founding members.

GUNS IN THE HANDS OF IDIOTS

GESTURE POLITICS SWEEP THE NATIONS. Enough said. Two Western governments sell their citizens short. Just so the stealth but vitriolic and plotting barbarians can rush in…

Suicide. What kind of civilizational survival strategy is this?

“You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.”

—Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Japanese Navy b.1884 d.1943)

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