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The Second Amendment
“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.” Sounds simple doesn’t it? This simple statement of the Bill Of Rights has endured much criticism over the last century. It has been blamed for the violence and, especially within the last few years, has become a scapegoat for political parties wanting to “Clean up America’s streets”. To understand what was truly meant by the Second Amendment, you must look at it in its proper context.
Boston, 1768. The British colonies in New England are prospering, due to the independent spirit and work ethic of the people here. Great sailing ships cruise into Boston Harbor, evidence of the wealth of world trade now generated from America's shores. Colonial cities like Boston are swelling; new towns are springing up and commerce is exploding because of the imaginative ways of these strange, rowdy, blunt, outspoken American whom cultured Europeans view with distaste. Yet the Old World gentry is quite willing to shove its cultural disdain aside in the name of expanding commerce. The energy pouring out of America is filling the England’s pockets. But still, England’s nobility was not happy with the new freethinking nationality that was being formed.
The absolute domination of a people cannot be achieved without psychological and physical controls. These include the social shackles Europe has imposed upon its citizenry for centuries. It has meant wealth, leisure, and happiness for a few--oppression and despair for millions. The English monarchs sense a growing mood of self-reliance and self-determination in the distant colonies, and it both frightens and infuriates them. The nobles react as they have always reacted. Destroy the swelling unconstrained thought of the colonists and show them that independence is too far over their heads and if this doesn’t work, the soldier’s bayonets will remind them.
The word arrives upon New England's wild and windswept shores. Disarm the American upstarts, for the presence of personal arms makes them feel independent. Take away their firearms and put the people of Boston back in service of the King . Then impose martial law, because they need to be reminded they do not have a voice, the mind and a single authority must manipulate the will of the masses. These riffraff must be shown they are not capable of thinking and acting for themselves. And if the Americans resist, bring them to England to be tried as traitors. They insult the proper authorities by speaking out about alleged injustices. These Americans are little more than savages-how dare they even consider the privileges of station and birth?
In 1789, during the meeting of America's first Congress, James Madison proposed a Bill of Rights including the Second Amendment. The people's right to keep and bear arms grew out of the bitter memory of the Crown's attempt to disarm the colonists. At that time, the militia consisted of everyday citizens and their personal firearms.
Opponents of the Second Amendment say the doctrine is old-fashioned and unnecessary in a modern world filled with professional soldiers. Unfortunately, tyranny has not yet become old-fashioned, whether it is the tyranny of violent crime or the tyranny of power and greed infringing upon the constitutional rights of the common citizenry. The authors of the Constitution repeatedly reminded us to stand guard against tyranny in any form if we value freedom.
I am not saying that everyone should have at his or her disposal an AR-15 assault rifle, or am I saying that it is every American’s right to have a militia to combat fight for his beliefs no matter how far out they are. Now militias are no longer ordinary citizens with personal firearms. Today this word has a found a different meaning in the National Guard. The National Guard is state and federally funded but its final loyalty is towards the federal government, not to the particular states in which they are stationed.
The Second Amendment protects against not only international tyranny as well as tyranny within the home front. As long as The Second Amendment remains part of The Constitution, the old ideas that this country was founded on will remain unscathed. If we allow the ideas this country was founded on to be changed and doctored, who knows what will be the next thing to go.
Bibliography
Bibliography
The Lawyer’s Second Amendment Society
http://www.thelsas.org/
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
http://www.ios.com/~rwbutler/polyticks/bearar
Second Amendment Law Library
http://www.2ndlawlib.org/
Second Amendment Foundation Online
http://www.saf.org/
Word Count: 730
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