The Second Amendment

What the Founders actually meant

In order to get all the colonies, later the states to sign on to the Constitution, a Bill of Rights was necessary to further spell out the limited powers of government delegated by “We the People.” Of the ten, the 1st and more so the 2nd are the ones most misunderstood, attacked and twisted by attempts to add or even take away from the clear language that is already there.

Regarding interpreting any writings of our Founders, advice from Thomas Jefferson:

"Our peculiar security is in the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction." --Thomas Jefferson to Wilson Nicholas, 1803.

"Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure." --Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823.

“On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." --Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823.

The 2nd 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.”

Blithering idiots who swore an oath to uphold and defend a constitution they obviously never read, for decades now have been passing so-called laws to infringe on your rights which they have no Constitutional authority to do. Historically uneducated Americans are aiding and abetting them through well-funded groups such as EVERYTOWN and Brady United, spreading dangerous information not based on the verified history about guns, facts about guns, gun owners and statistics about gun crime in America, with one misguided or purposeful mission. To totally disarm every American, period!

If the right to defend yourself, your family and property can allegedly be legislated away, what rights are next? Law enforcement needs a warrant to enter your home only Monday thru Friday? A speedy and public trial is allowed only in months with 31 days?

From Gun Facts,

Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year, or 6,849 every day. Most often, the gun is never fired, and no blood (including the criminal’s) is shed.

Every year, 400,000 life-threatening violent crimes are prevented using firearms.

60 percent of convicted felons admitted that they avoided committing crimes when they knew the victim was armed. Forty percent of convicted felons admitted that they avoided committing crimes when they thought the victim might be armed. 

Felons report that they avoid entering houses where people are at home because they fear being shot.

Fewer than 1 percent of firearms are used in the commission of a crime.

The U.S. Army definition of an “assault rifle”:

“A selective-fire rifle chambered for a cartridge of intermediate power. If applied to any semi-automatic firearm regardless of its cosmetic similarity to a true assault rifle, the term is incorrect.”

An absurd argument is that the amendment was only concerning the use of guns in connection with militia service. (Which leads to another dilemma. Saying the word “militia” or even being associated with one since the Clinton days automatically makes you a domestic terrorist/white supremacist to be placed on a government watch list.)

People who have no clue the Founders' thoughts on things, including Biden, smirk at the thought of the people being as well armed or better than the government, when, actually, that is what the Founders intended!

“[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.”
– Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28

The Founders despised and feared standing permanent armies. They were under the thumb of Britain and saw how European countries were brutalized by their standing armies. That is why the “Army clause” was put in the Constitution:

[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; - United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 12

Following Jefferson’s advice, “instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed," let's examine some quotes from Founders who were certainly there when the Bill of Rights was created:

"The Constitution shall never be construed . . . to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” - Samuel Adams (emphasis mine)

"The great objective is that every man be armed. . . . Everyone who is able may have a gun." - Patrick Henry

“Americans have "the advantage of being armed" -- unlike the citizens of other countries where "the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." - James Madison

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.” – Noah Webster

“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” - Joseph Story

“As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.” - Tench Coxe (emphasis mine)

“The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them.” - Zechariah Johnson

The idea of individuals having guns for their protection, families and property is pretty consistent. That guns are to be passed out then collected again to be stored in an armory after your service in the militia would seem totally ridiculous and absurd to these men.

America was 13 colonies populated by British subjects who had a Bill of Rights officially called “An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown” which was passed in 1689. It contains things like freedom from excessive bail or harsh, cruel, and unusual punishments. Freedom to petition the king. Freedom of speech and from excessive taxes. And the right to bear arms for self-defense.

Battle of Lexington courtesy National Army Museum

Over the years, tensions began to grow between the colonies and England which were detailed in the Declaration of Independence. Things came to a head on April 19, 1775, at the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the American Revolution began because England, through General Gage, committed the outrage of attempting to take the private weapons of free Englishmen. At Lexington, 70 patriots stood against 1800 British soldiers with eight killed and 10 wounded. At Concord, the patriot’s ranks swelled to 400. Fighting from the woods, they wounded approximately 227 British soldiers and killed 73. By the time the British retreated to Boston, the patriot’s ranks swelled to 15,000 and they held the city under siege for 11 months till St. Patrick's Day, 1776, when the British retreated from the town.

Turning to modern day America. While politicians and their cohorts previously mentioned, through deception and unconstitutional laws are trying to disarm Americans, your federal agencies have been arming to the teeth over the years. Were you aware the Department of Education has a SWAT team? In 2011, Kenneth Wright found that out the hard way when they busted his door in and dragged him out in his underwear in front of his three children, ages 3, 9 and 11, who were detained in a car for two hours, at 6 AM. The agents were looking for his estranged wife who did not live there. She was accused of misusing federal aid for students.

After a yearlong expensive sting operation in April 2010, the FDA raided Amish farmer Dan Allyger’s Rainbow Acres Farm in Pennsylvania for allegedly selling raw milk across state lines.

On October 28, 2003, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service raided the home of Kathy and George Norris, both in their 60s. George failed to file the proper paperwork for orchids he imported. The Norris' home was totally trashed in the process.

Before determining how many federal agencies are armed, we need to know how many federal agencies there are. We don't even know!

From the Sourcebook of United States Executive Agencies 2012 Edition:

[T]here is no authoritative list of government agencies.

The Federal Register's List as of December 2016 shows 440. The online Federal Register's Index shows 272.

Besides the FBI, ATF, etc., agencies including NOAA, the FDA, the NIH, the Small Business Administration, Federal Reserve Board, Department of Energy, Office of Personnel Management and the Railroad Retirement Board have armed agents, SWAT teams, and hundreds of millions of bullets. Aug. 7, 2012, for example, the Social Security Administration put in a request for 174,000 rounds of .357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point bullets.

Regarding the obviously well-armed FBI, the enforcement branch of the Department of Justice, they totally disgraced themselves in their shameful and illegal participation in the Russia Collusion hoax. They then raided hundreds of Americans homes to arrest them for “parading” and “trespassing” in regard to Jan. 6.

Fourteen GOP members of the House visited the District of Columbia jail where prisoners are being held.

“Jan. 6 defendants [have] reported being subjected to months of solitary confinement, verbal abuse (e.g., called ‘white supremacists’), harassment, beatings from guards, denial of basic medical care, religious services, communion, nutritious diet, and access to attorneys,” they wrote.

One prisoner was denied cancer treatment and treatment for a broken hand for eight months! Where is Amnesty Interntional?

The rule of law was broken in the United States after Jan. 6!

Then the FBI distinguished itself again unspeakably raiding the home of the 45th President, Donald Trump, after sitting on the warrant for days. Then, a day later, accosting sitting Congressman Scott Perry on vacation and seizing his personal phone.

Regarding Mar-a-Lago from The Post Millenial:

In a joint intelligence brief obtained by Project Veritas, it revealed that the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation have begun to paint conservatives that have taken issue with the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as "domestic violent extremists," warning of future violence from the group.

The IRS was running job advertisements prior to the passing of the “Inflation Reduction Act” that is requesting 87,000 more agents. One of the requirements:

“Major Duties" of the special agent include: "Carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.

While already possessing:

2,148 law enforcement officers.

4,461 weapons, including 15 fully automatic weapons (for you lefties, that’s a machine gun)

Over 5 million rounds of ammunition.

The IRS released its Annual Criminal Investigations Report 2021

On page 17, we have some friendly IRS agents at the shooting range.

Pay particular attention to the targets. Try this at your local gun range and see how quickly you are asked to leave now!

Summing it all up. Politicians who swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, along with their gun-grabbing accomplices, want to totally disarm law abiding Americans. George Soros elected prosecutors refuse to prosecute violent repeat offending criminals. Meanwhile federal agencies with SWAT teams armed with fully automatic weapons and hundreds of millions of bullets are authorized to make arrests from Section 812 of the unconstitutional 2002 Homeland Security Act. Though the actual military is forbidden to act on U.S. soil, this sure looks like a standing army to me!

Regarding the Bill of Rights, the other nine all rest on the existence of the 2nd.

“This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty…. The right of self-defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.” – St. George Tucker, Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1803

Or is it actually, “The Eve of Destruction”?