YES!!! 2nd Amendment Designed To Prevent Despotism

Compelled to take up arms to regain their liberties as Englishmen, America’s Founders knew that even the constitutional republic they had established could threaten the freedoms for which they had fought. In the First Amendment, they established a first line of defense — the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

Knowing that words and parchment barriers alone would prove inadequate to restrain those elected as servants from becoming tyrants, they added the Second Amendment to secure "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms" — not to protect deer hunters and skeet shooters, but to guarantee to themselves and their posterity the blessings of "a free State."

Their foremost concern was the precipitating events of the American Revolution, wherein British troops in Massachusetts and Virginia seized American muskets, cannon and powder — actions the Declaration of Independence calls "a design to reduce (the colonists) under absolute Despotism."

Entrusting the nation’s sovereignty to the people, the amendment breaks the government’s military monopoly, guaranteeing to the people such firearms as would be necessary to defend against the sort of government abuse of their inalienable rights the British had committed.

Thus, the amendment’s "well regulated Militia" encompasses all citizens who constitute the polity of the nation with the right to form their own government. The amendment’s "keep and bear Arms" secures the right to possess firearms such as fully-automatic rifles, which are both the "lineal descendant(s) of … founding-era weapon(s)" (applying a 2007 court of appeals’ test), and "ordinary military equipment" (applying a 1939 Supreme Court standard).

No government deprives its citizens of rights without asserting that its actions are "reasonable" and "necessary" for high-sounding reasons such as "public safety." A right that can be regulated is no right at all, only a temporary privilege dependent upon the good will of the very government officials that such right is designed to constrain.

http://www.gunowners.org/

Rep. Virgil Goode To The Bush White House: Withdraw Your Brief

Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) has sent the following letter to the White House asking them to undo the huge harm they have caused the Second Amendment with the brief they filed in the DC gun ban case.

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January 22, 2008

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

Your Solicitor General has just filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the D.C. v. Heller case arguing that categorical gun bans of virtually all self-defense firearms are constitutional if a court determines they are "reasonable" -- the lowest standard of constitutional review.

If this view prevails, a national ban on all firearms -- including hunting rifles -- could be constitutional, even if the court decides -- on ample historical evidence -- that the Founders intended the Second Amendment as an individual right.

I would ask that you direct the Justice Department to withdraw this unfortunate brief and to replace it with an opinion which reflects the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Virgil Goode

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Rep. Goode is following up his action by circulating the letter among his colleagues. He is asking other members of Congress to add their signatures in anticipation of sending President Bush another copy of the letter.

Your help is needed immediately to convince your Representative to join with Rep. Goode.

Please use the Take Action feature to send a pre-written message urging your Rep. to be a part of this important initiative.

http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm

YES!!! 2nd Amendment Designed To Prevent Despotism

YES!!! 2nd Amendment Designed To Prevent Despotism

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