By: G.M.L. Henry
“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.”
——–Amendment II, Constitution of the United States of America
This week the National Rifle Association held its annual convention under the cloud of massive national protests and political attack. From high school students walking out to nonstop media assaults, the NRA is suffering an unprecedented opposition. A motely alliance of politicians, businesses, students and celebrities are leading another push to remove Americans’ access to guns. Already severely restricted by unconstitutional controls, the U. S. citizen’s right to bear arms hangs by a thread. The NRA, originally started to promote sharpshooting, transformed into an organization to defend the right to bear arms. Once led by celebrities and renown politicians; it has slowly fallen into disgrace and rejection as the culture has continued its rapid decline.
On May 20th, 2000 actor Charlton Heston accepted the presidency of the NRA and proclaimed that his gun could only be taken “from my cold, dead hands”, referencing the organizations famous slogan. It caused a surge in memberships and a rise in political power that held for almost twenty years. While the NRA boasts more than 6 million members currently, it has become the object of attack by popular culture in general. Companies have cut ties, politicians have denied support, and the media has taken to personal insults and slanders against NRA leadership.
In all totalitarian societies the private ownership of weaponry is a direct threat to the ruling regime. Thus, control of weaponry has been a common tactic of kings, emperors, dictators and other tyrannical governments. When the first king of Israel, King Saul, tried to raise an army to fight the invading Philistines, he found that all the blacksmiths and instruments used for sharpening and making weapons had been removed. This is one of many historical examples of arms control being used to quell resistance. One of the more notorious, recent examples is the Verordnung gegen den Waffenbesitz der Juden, the 1938 law prohibiting the possession of guns, knives, spears or any other type of weaponry by Jews. Disarmament of the common man is a favorite policy of ancient rulers and incidentally modern ones as well.
While one could waste an eternity trying to debunk the myths of modern antigun advocates, I will not waste your time with that here. It bores intellect to listen to propaganda. Propaganda is for the masses and is by its nature partially or completely false. We could listen to the U.K. government brag about how few firearms deaths they have; while covering up the massive amounts of knife murders. We could listen to the French boast of their gun laws; trying to ignore the mass murders carried out by terrorists against helpless, unarmed civilians. Maybe we could contemplate the Chinese gun control; absolute just like their “president”. The endless babble of the antigun activists merely repeats the talking points given to them by their neo-socialist masters. Yet the heart of the matter is extremely simple: disarmament is an absolute prerequisite for an autocratic state.
The second amendment was not written so men could hunt or shoot for sporting purposes. It was written so that the people could possess a means of resisting a tyrannical government. Patrick Henry, in his opposition to the original constitution without the Bill of Rights, warned that standing armies are the tool of tyrants. His dark predictions of future totalitarians motivated James Madison to introduce the Bill of Rights. The common man must be armed to deter a loss of liberty. The citizen soldier; the man who leaves his home, takes up his weapon and defends his home. This concept was the glory of ancient Rome. It was the defining point of the American Revolution. The British Empire’s attempt to disarm the colonists caused the first shot to be fired.
The possession of arms has a long, proud history in America. Yet in this age of rising socialism and secular totalitarianism it poses a danger to our new masters of power. Every authoritarian regime, once it takes power, must suppress dissent. We see this in Europe, China, Russia and Arabian countries. Once a certain public order takes absolute power it must remove all opposition to its actions. While this is easily accomplished in most countries, the United States poses a sticky problem. Modern socialist takeovers are supposed to be “glorious” and hailed as “progress”. A bunch of shootouts with people not on board with the new order would be messy. The result is that the 2nd amendment presents an inconvenient obstacle. It must be removed. It is the last bastion against the Orwellian future that modern politicians have in store for us. They have moved heaven and earth to turn popular opinion. Strange mass shootings, with an even stranger pattern of federal law enforcement ignoring warning signs. Coordinated high school walkouts. Trained policeman not responding to shootings in time. Total popular media support. All strange factors working toward one goal. Eliminate the second amendment.
As we watch the public furor mount against the NRA, and this noble, venerable organization struggle against the overwhelming tide of opposition, we must realize that we are watching something much more significant: the last stand of American freedom. Liberty is in her death throes; wounded by her enemies and betrayed by her children. She has only one defense. One last obstacle before she is wiped from the American continent. She will die beside this cause; it’s the only one she has left. It will be pried from her cold, dead hands.
