Diamond,
What an excellent read. Thanks for sharing.
I recently posted a comment on Congressman Ed Perlmutter's (D-Seventh Congressional District, Colorado) Facebook page. He's gung-ho to push an anti-gun agenda. I hope nobody minds me sharing. Please advise if you feel I missed something:
Congressmen Perlmutter, allow me to point out a simple fact. "Soft targets" make easy prey for evil. With that being said, would you compare and contrast the differences between an "Assault weapon" and a "defense weapon"? Is an "assault weapon" the brick used to smash Reginald Denny's head in California? Is it the gasoline used to douse Melissa Coon's son in Kansas City? Could an "assault weapon" be the planes used against our World Trade Center and Pentagon? Perhaps it is a spoon, a knife, a fork? In my opinion, an "assault weapon" is the fabrication of tiny thinking politicians. A "defense weapon" belongs to decent people. The latter brings no harm to anyone except evil; it deters the use of the former.
Your Honor, can you face reality? As United States citizens, we do not live in a bubble impenetrable to evil minds, whereas "evil minds" are the epitome of "assault weapons"! If we did, we would not be witness to the atrocities which bombard us daily! We are subject to the "Battlefield" whether we're willing to admit it or not!
It has been said, "When seconds matter, the police are minutes away? Sadly, for Ambassador Stevens the police never came! Unfortunately, he hasn't been the only victim of evil! Those minutes for the first Americans could have amounted to days, months, and even years. Thus, the founding fathers of this great nation prescribed the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. They considered it an "inalienable" right-not capable of being surrendered or transferred without the consent of the one possessing such rights.
Can we take a moment to seriously look at the Second Amendment? It 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". As I read it, each and every citizen of the United States has an obligation, a duty if you will, to own a firearm, and to bear that firearm against evil. In no particular order, early American settlers viewed the right to arms and/or the right to bear arms and/or state militias as important for one or more of these purposes:
Deterring undemocratic government;
Repelling invasion;
Suppressing insurrection;
Facilitating a natural right of self-defense;
Participating in law enforcement;
I also believe there is an obligation to individually secure those firearms (as a militia member) so that they cannot be used against us. The locked front and back doors to a home is not enough. Gun locks and gun safes do a much better job! Nobody but the gun owner should have access to a firearm's security (yes, we can learn from what recently happened). We need to take it upon ourselves, as decent people, to secure our defense, and the means for that defense.
Now, I have a few questions to ask of my fellow citizens, my President, every United States Senator and Congressman, State Representative, et al. On this planet, as we currently know it, what man has the right to decide for another man how he is going to protect and defend himself and his loved ones within the confines of his own home, and beyond? I was of the understanding that such defense, the right to bear arms, was God given. Shall we defend ourselves with hope and/or prayer (for those among us who still hold God in our heart)? You seek "Change." I seek to be left alone, with my inalienable right intact. I fully understand, "Where there is an evil will, there is an evil way! Why are you considering denying me the ability to fight fire with fire-force with equal and opposite force? If I am harmed, injured, or worse yet killed, shouldn't I (or my surviving family) be able to hold you (personally) culpable, and thus subject to liability? If you do not want to play by the rules (e.g. The Constitution of the United States), then by all means vacate your office or citizenship! It's hard for me to trust a government for my protection when that government cannot even balance a budget..
