By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “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.”
This amendment does not address the right of the American citizen to own a gun for home protection, individual protection, hunting, or recreation use. It addresses the issue of owning a gun to protect the nation against threats to “…the security of a free State…” The founding fathers never questioned the rights of an individual to have a firearm to protect their person, family, or possessions.
As late as the 1850’s, politicians regularly bore arms on the House and Senate floors.
During an 1836 committee hearing, a House member became so enraged at the testimony of a witness that he pulled a gun and pointed it at the witness who fled the chamber.
During a debate in 1850, Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi pulled a pistol on Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. Thomas Hart Benton’s reaction was to stand and face Foote. He opened his coat and stated: “Shoot and be damned.” What is amazing about this story is that Benton did not draw his own pistols because he too was always armed.
On June 20, 1854, two Representatives from the State of Tennessee, William Churchwell, and William Cullom engaged in a fight on the House floor. The two men were on the opposite side of the state’s rights argument and the comments became personal. Cullom jumped over his desk to attack Churchwell who pulled a gun from his pocket. Representative Craig from North Carolina grabbed Churchwell’s hand.
Ironically, Preston Brooks of South Carolina (the same Preston Brooks who used a cane to nearly beat Charles Sumner to death on the floor of the Senate) introduce two resolutions. One to permit the House to expel any member bringing a concealed weapon into the chamber. A second resolution required the construction of a rack in the rotunda where the Representatives could deposit their weapons.
No legislator in 1791 would have expected anyone to exist on the frontier of America without the protection of a personal weapon. I would suggest today that the inner cities of America are far more dangerous than the American wilderness of the 1700 and 1800’s.
That being said, one must ascertain why the founding fathers included the Second Amendment. That question is answered in the first part of the Amendment. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…”
What is a well-regulated militia? It certainly is not a bunch of armed cowboys facing down the BLM in Bunkerville. It is not a bunch of men taking over a federal facility in Oregon. It is not a bunch of self-appointed yahoos running around the wilds of Michigan.
The militia is every able-bodied individual in America who can be called to arms when the security of the nation is at risk. The founding fathers had just fought a war against an oppressive king. The American Revolutionary army was made up of the militia. While there were, what Washington, called the regulars as versus the local militia, even the regulars were militia.
There were very few professional soldiers in the ranks. This has been the case in every major war America has engaged in. The War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam were all fought with the militia. These wars were fought with draftees, citizen soldiers who were called to arms.
It was the wish of the founding fathers that a very minimum of Americans would be professional soldiers. This was designed to keep anyone from becoming a strong man who could control the people through military force.
Our most recent conflicts are not wars. War has never been declared in the Middle East and the fighting has been done by National Guard units. These men have chosen to dedicate a portion of their lives as professional soldiers. As much as I appreciate and respect what these men have done to protect my family and me, they are not the militia.
Like it or not, you and I are the militia. We will become well regulated when we are called to arms to serve under the direction of a small cadre of professionals who have dedicated their lives to the American military. Therefore, each and every American home should have a military style weapon for each able-bodied member of the household. Each household should be required to have a supply of ammunition for those weapons. Every American should at sometime be trained in the use of those weapons. It is the obligation of every able-bodied American to be prepared to protect the nation against all enemies domestic and foreign.
The President and his friends, the anti-gun lobby, pointed out that no one needs a military style rifle to hunt. I find it interesting that people are opposed to the gun lobby but no one ever mentions the anti-gun lobby. I agree with the President, hunters don’t need a military-style weapon. However, I would disagree that means there is no need for an American to own such a weapon. Hunting is not the issue. Protection of the American nation is the issue.
While the anti-gun lobby centers its hatred toward the NRA, no member of the NRA has ever been tied to a mass shooting in America. Maybe the government should require anyone owning a gun to join the NRA. That is a joke, folks.
I don’t belong to the NRA and have no plans to join. I never had a gun in my house until the federal government began to pass laws that infringed on my Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The encouraging news is that since 1993, gun ownership has increased by fifty percent. During that same period, gun homicide has been cut in half.
The most dangerous place to reside in America today is still in the womb of an American woman. The very people who are appalled at the number of gun deaths encourage the murder of American children to the tune of millions each year.
Thought of the week…“A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves…and include, according to the past and general usuage of the states, all men capable of bearing arms… To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”
– Richard Henry Lee
Federal Farmer No. 18
January 25, 1788
