THE TRUTH ABOUT GUNS AND 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” –Second Amendment, Bill of Rights

What part of this statement do gun-banners not understand? It’s amazing the way that these idiots deliberately misconstrue the Second Amendment to pursue their own agenda. In their wisdom the founding fathers included this clause to protect not only American lives, but also American freedom.

In 1987 Florida adopted a right-to-carry law which many detractors feared would lead to an increase in violence. Betty Friedan, founder of the National Organization of Women, stated at the time, “lethal violence, even in self defense, only engenders more violence.” Friedan would rather see you beaten to death or raped than exercise your God given right to protect yourself! Thank God Florida didn’t agree with her. From 1987 to 1996 the homicide rate dropped in Florida 36% while the national average only fell .4%.

In an attempt to measure the potential criminal effects of the law, the Dade County Police began tracking incidents committed by right-to-carry holders. From 1987 to 1992 only four crimes were committed by right-to-carry holders, none of them involving bodily injury. In 1992 it was decided to end the tracking program as too few incidents involving right-to-carry holders occurred.

In 1994 as gun-banners patted themselves on the back over the Assault Weapons Ban. Then First Lady Hillary Clinton said, “since the bill was enacted, 19 of the deadliest assault weapons are harder to find on our streets. We will never know how many tragedies we’ve avoided because of these efforts.” What she failed to mention was that less than 1% of homicides involved the targeted ‘Assault Weapons.’

Many of the above facts can be found at justfacts.com, a non-partisan political education site.

Many gun-banners would have you believe that the word ‘people’ within the Second Amendment refers not to the population at large in America, but rather to the National Guard Forces of the states. This is ridiculous. No one questions the right of Americans to meet together for peaceful purposes, as guaranteed by the First Amendment- “…the right of the people peaceably to assemble…” By this logic only National Guard Forces could meet together.

James Madison, father of the United States Constitution and fourth President of the United States, is the founder most associated with fighting for the inclusion of the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights. In Federalist Paper 46, while arguing for the need for an armed citizenry, he wrote, “…governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”

In a letter to William Stephens Smith in 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Let them (the people) take arms.” To John Cartwright in 1824 he wrote again of the people’s rights, “that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed…”

In his article entitled Should A Website Post Best Ideas For Successful Terrorist Plots? John Lott writes that it was encouragement by the Israeli government for Israeli citizens to obtain right-to-carry permits that ended terrorist gun attacks in the early 1970s. Essentially, when a gun-toting terrorist opened fire in a public place he was often shot down by responsible citizens before his intended bloodbath could begin. Lott goes on to state that today 15% of Israel’s population have right-to-carry permits while only 2% of Americans do. He also provides evidence for the fact that when states passed right-to-carry laws deaths and injuries from multiple-victim public shootings fell by 80%.

Criminals will always find ways to obtain weapons illegally- that’s why they are called criminals. Guns can save lives; but when gun-banners immorally and unconstitutionally take the right of self-defense away from the people, only criminals benefit.