This is an important constitutional point, and who knows how long it will be available online, now that Bob Owens Has Left The Range. But the discussion is interesting.
Listen to this college history lecturer turned firearms instructor. He knows his stuff.
You can access the video at the above link.
(I tried to access the source code for the video, but it hasn't been uploaded to any internet source available to the public. And since it's proprietary to Bearing Arms, they have the right to restrict SOLE access to their own website.)
I hope that Bearing Arms is careful to preserve this video, because it explains the Constitutional nuances of the Second Amendment, which many people just do not understand.
The central point is, of course, that the Constitutional Forefathers DID NOT TRUST GOVERNMENT to preserve the rights of the common citizen. Therefore, in the first ten amendments to the constitution called "The Bill of Rights" or The Enumerated Rights ... even though they specifically were not 'enumerated' (ranked by order of importance) .. every one of these rights were deemed as important as any other of the Rights defined there'
Here is a list of the Bill of Rights, in an video file:
Bear in mind that the "Colonists" had suffered under the thumb of The King (George III) of England, and the unwonted excesses of the British troops who were stationed in the colonies to keep order, protect the colonists from predation by native people, and to enforce British Law (including the collection of taxes).
Mostly, the latter.
When you review these amendments, recall that each was enacted to address a specific grievance which the British King's policies had visited upon the Americans.
In the meantime, I hope you all have a joyful and NOISY celebration of American Independence!
And now ... the traditional Independence Day Geek Fireworks Show!
On June 28 I wrote an article which brought some interesting comments; among them, this:
Anonymous said...California government marches to the beat of a different drum. Folks that don't like it can always move elsewhere.
Guess what? This is the "Elsewhere" where people moved.
Essentially, except for the "indigenous people" which the earliest European colonists found here (and almost immediately wiped out by a combination of Guns, God and Gonorrhea .. not to mention measles) this was a land unpopulated by thriving, advanced nations. It was not necessary for the new "colonists" to take the land away from those few humans found here; they just had to breathe on them; then sit back and let nature take its course.
You can't get more American than THAT!
(Later, of course, there were some obscure hold-outs .. see Wounded Knee ... our sterling soldiers soon negotiated an honorable peace.)
Americas Statue of Liberty is the host to a gift of the French People. It is the only monument to freedom which is dedicated to freedom: don't let nobody tell you no different!
"The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World" was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States and is recognized as a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was designated as a National Monument in 1924. Employees of the National Park Service have been caring for the colossal copper statue since 1933.
America is the progenitor of the twin documents which delineate the concept of freedom: The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution of the United States of America.
The Declaration of Independence defines the reasons why Americans decided to separate themselves from their British founders, and the basic precepts of FREEDOM which should rightly be available to ALL men to define.
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
The Constitution delineates the basic principles under which Americans have decided to live:
(With no reference to the "foreign nation" which, by the singular virtue of having colonized it, seemed comfortable with the assumption of power to GOVERN that new land. Oh .. that would be England!)
Unfortunately, having tasted freedom, free men are loath to give it up!
These documents are the foundation of America; both in the original establishment of the nation, and as the enduring requirement of free men to continue to manage their own affairs, regardless of the wishes of a "foreign" nation which would impose its own laws upon them as if it were a mere "colony".
(Britain established "Colonies"; America established "Partners". Well, nobody is perfect.)
(Except for "Me and Thee"; and sometimes I worry a bit about "Thee".)
I hope to examine the concept of "Independence" more thoroughly on Independence Day later this week.
But I suspect I might be overwhelmed by pomposity by then. So don't hold your breath.
This is as much scholarship and research as I can manage in a single week, and I may have already over-used it, You know the drill: if you're interested, do your own research. You know as much about it as I do.
I'm just glad I don't live in Europe. Or .. well ... anywhere else.
No man can say more for the concept of "independence", without voting Democrat.
