If exercising your 2nd Amendment rights requires a permit or permission, you have no right

The majority of gun owners in the United States become very concerned whenever there is a democrat occupying the White House, combined with a liberal majority, even a slight one, in both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate.  The cause for concern is well-founded.  Democrats, socialists, and liberals fervently favor restricting and prohibiting the private ownership of firearms in the United States of America.   These Second Amendment deniers never stop refining their anti-gun rhetoric. Hope of one day having a completely defenseless population against criminals and the government is their goal.  When stated this directly, they deny it.  But how can it be described any other way?

The Second Amendment 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.”  The left has always taken the position that the Second Amendment only protects the right to bear arms while serving in a government-regulated militia.  This argument fails historically and textually. If the authentic intent and purpose of the Second Amendment was as the anti-gun proponents proclaim, it would be the only primary right, guaranteed to the government, found within the Bill of Rights.  All the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights restrain the government in some manner, yet the left would have you believe the Second Amendment was placed 2nd in the Bill of Rights to inform the people that only those citizens belonging to a well-regulated militia may bear arms.  It’s absurd that such a position has ever gained footing in American culture. 

The Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791.  When historical text is examined, it’s absolutely clear what the founding fathers intended for the people when they crafted the Second Amendment.  The following quotes are presented to fair-minded men and women as to the spirit and authentic intent of the Second Amendment – that the people have the right to own and bear arms without government infringement, and to go about armed for their protection and the protection of others is the right of the people. 

Thomas Jefferson wrote that “no freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”  (1776)

George Washington said, “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined.”  (1790) 

George Mason said, “I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.”  (1788)

Patrick Henry said, “Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined…The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.”  (1778)

Samuel Adams said, “The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”  (1778)

There is nothing obscure or ambiguous about the intent of The Founding Fathers.  American citizens, so long as they are peaceable citizens, have the absolute right to keep and bear arms without government infringement.  This means the government cannot limit, or take any action to limit the right to bear arms.  To bear arms does not mean that the U.S. Congress or the majority of U.S. Supreme Court Justices grant a citizen the privilege / permission to keep one revolver, not to exceed a certain caliper, in his or her nightstand.  Bear Arms means so much more than what is permitted to be exercised in the majority of states in America today.  “Bear”, in the context of the Second Amendment is (of a person) to carry (someone or something).

The right of the people to keep and bear Arms was meant for the people, without the government’s knowledge or permission, to go about armed, concealed or otherwise, if they chose to or not.  That is the absolute, unequivocal purpose and original intent of the Second Amendment.  And yet, since its ratification in 1791, at opportune moments in our history, ‘government’ has seized control of the right to keep and bear arms, and turned it into a mere privilege.  Cities have enacted laws prohibiting gun ownership.  Many states require a permit to carry a concealed weapon – requiring the citizen to give a good enough reason as to why he or she should have the privilege to protect themselves outside of their residence.  If a citizen wants to purchase a firearm from a gun dealer, he or she needs the federal government’s permission first.  The list of infringements, of actions taken to limit or prohibit the keeping and bearing arms, is astonishing and should be infuriating. 

Despite the Biden Administration’s willful ignorance or arrogant disregard for the 2nd Amendment, some conservative states have already passed laws that remove many the unconstitutional firearm restrictions.  In those conservative states that have yet to remove such unconstitutional restrictions, most, if not all, have bills introduced to somewhat or mostly restore the freedoms guaranteed by the Second Amendment. In South Carolina, with a Republican Governor, and a Republican controlled House and Senate, oddly, the lawmakers cannot seem to find it in their souls to restore the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.  It’s as if many of them are more liberal than the R behind their name should tolerate.  Any politician knows that to get elected in most districts in the Palmetto State, just saying you’re a republican and conservative will get you across the finish line. 

They call it Constitutional Carry and sixteen states are currently protecting that right of the people.  Those states do not infringe upon the right of the people to keep and bear arms, to include carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.  Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Alaska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Vermont.  What are the governments of the remaining thirty-four states thinking?

There is a concerted effort that has persisted since the Wilson Administration to take away liberty and freedom from American citizens.  In so many ways, these schemes to weaken and control the common man have succeeded.  Local taxes, sales tax, property tax, school tax, income taxes, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, gas tax, and on, and on, and on…in addition to licensing and permit (permission) requirements has done well to reduce Americans to nothing more than collateral for the national debt.  If only they could take away our firearms so we could not adequately muster and make a stand against tyranny. 

We’ll end with a universal truth that is evident in every city and state that currently infringe upon the right of peaceful citizens to keep and bear arms, to include carrying a concealed weapon without the government’s permission…

“The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”  –  Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776