Inland Seas Firearms Training is a supporter of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United Stated of America. I guess that goes without saying. But I said it anyway regardless of how redundant the statement might be. But what does it mean to support the Second Amendment? The fact is too many people miss the meaning of this amendment and what the founders of the country, the formers the Constitution, and the drafters of the Bill of Rights had in mind when they wrote it.
Firstly, The Second Amendment does not give you the right to bear arms, secondly, it has nothing to do with hunting and lastly it is not about the military. “Huh? What did that guy just say?” Let me go on to explain. I’m sure that there are people on both sides of the isle that don’t understand what I just wrote and would be in a frenzy about this statement. Read to the end. I’ll explain.
Let’s look at the text:
“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.”
One sentence, written deliberately and straight to the point. But so much confusion, debate, name calling, protest, anger and so on. Watch the news and you will be fed a point of view. Change the channel and get another point of view. The problem is the Second Amendment is not up for debate. It is in the Constitution and it is the law of the land; the supreme law of the land!!!
I’m going to address my first point that the Second Amendment does not “give” us the right to bear arms. The right to bear arms comes from a higher authority. Just as stated in the Declaration of Independence, “They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, the Second Amendment does not say “shall be given the right to…” it states that the right “shall not be infringed.” What right? The God given right to self-protection through being equally armed.
This government was established with the ideal that this God given Right is not to be infringed. In other words, all citizens of this world have an inherent right to bear Arms. That is a fact. So, what’s going on with the rest of the governments of the world? They are infringing on the rights of their citizens. Those people have as much right to be armed as anyone. They have one problem They are governed by bullies. Bullies who make it their mission to infringe on the rights of their citizens and keep them unprotected. Not so with the United States of America. Not yet anyway. Unfortunately, there are those in power who want more power. There is one thing blocking their way, an armed citizenry.
Adolph Hitler knew that very well and that was a problem. Hitler’s first point of business was to unarm the people who could hinder his plan. He made it a point to only allow arms in the hands of the people who supported him…blindly!!! Although gun ownership was allowed for the “non-Jewish” German, infringing on the rights of the Jewish Germans allow him to go forward basically unchallenged. Once the citizens to be controlled were unarmed, there was no one to stop his evil plan. The Nazi Army put over 8 million people to death in his death camps. The total armed forces in Germany were about 2.5 million. The rest of the 13.6 million were spread out throughout, Africa, Russia, other European countries, in their navy in subs and on the surface throughout the world and more leaving relatively few at home. How were they able to kill so many at home? The people gave up their right to keep and to bear arms. How would it have turned out if those 8 million + people were armed? (rhetorical question) They would have outnumbered the entire German army at home the rest being spread out around the world. Remember that the 13.6 million soldiers and sailors were not in the armed forces all at one time.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State”… What did they mean by that? Let’s define the word Militia. I have gotten into debates with people who believe they are talking about the military. They are not. The military are professional, uniformed, paid personnel belonging to the government they serve. When I say belonging to, I mean owned by. They can be ordered to their demise at the word of their commander in chief. I have belonged to the military in the USA and understood that if I was called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice, I was expected to do it under the law.
The Militia (capitalized because it was capitalized in the text of the Constitution) is made up of citizens who take up arms to defend their country. If you watch the movie, “The Patriot”, you will see the British officers on the hillside seeing the regular guys, the citizens, charging over the hill. They were saying, They’re just Militia. It turned out the Militia kicked butt.
The words well regulated are about how a militia works. The military are not allowed to leave. They can be put to death for deserting in a time of war. The militia are not sworn soldiers but when they are in the fight they are under the government and must follow orders as given through a chain of command. They may however leave if they are not pleased with what is coming, how the mission is being executed, if they are afraid or if they just feel like it. In order for there to even be a Militia the citizens must be armed.
The United States of America’s founders had lived under a tyrannical government. The King of England had put burdens on them that were unnecessary and even brutal. He used bullies in the British army to enforce his demands. When the colonists grew tired enough, they took up arms and fought back. They fought so fiercely that they drove the world’s greatest superpower at the time from their shores. Our founding fathers recognized that the armed citizen played a huge role in the defeat of England on the American shores. They wrote it into the Constitution to keep such a force available. That force, the American citizen, is to be armed and ready to meet the enemy of our country and have the firepower to counter them. All the talk of the citizen not needing this weapon or that capacity magazine or any of the other talk that some are saying simply shows the ignorance of those people about the history of this great land and the reason for the Militia.
The God given right to keep and bear arms is worth fighting for. It is part of a constitution that is worth fighting for. Let’s not allow our Constitution to be corrupted or watered down with amendments aimed at weakening the worlds greatest government founding document. Keep in mind the security of our nation and keep in mind that the enemies of our great nation can be found both foreign and domestic and some of the worst currently hold seats in the government.
Michael G. Wooster