AMENDMENT I I

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

 

 

 

 

 

What Our Forefathers Said…

"Arms in the hands of individual citizens may be used at individual discretion...in private self-defense." John Adams

 

"The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." Samuel Adams

Some people believe that the word Militia refers to the National Guard being the regulated group. However, the Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments) was adopted in 1791. The act that created the National Guard wasn't enacted until 1903.

You need to understand that in May of 1792, five months after the adoption of the 2nd Amendment, the Militia Act was passed. That act distinguished between the enrolled militia and the organized militia. Before the passing of that act, there was only the enrolled militia, which was the body of all able-bodied men between the ages of 17 and 44 inclusively, and it is that militia to which the 2nd Amendment refers. It couldn't refer to the organized militia because it didn't exist yet. Legally, both militias still exist.

 

 

Can you find anything in the 2nd Amendment or any other part of the Constitution that says the individual can't have arms? If the government passed a law tomorrow that said we didn't have the right to free speech, or the right to free worship, or freedom of the press, would those rights no longer exist, or would they be simply denied? If the Constitution is amended depriving us of our rights, do those rights cease to exist? According to our forefathers who set up this great country, the answer is yes, we would still have those rights. We're just being denied them. Because of that, it's the way we have to look at the Constitution.

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in Government." Thomas Jefferson

 

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." Thomas Jefferson

 

"To disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them." George Mason

 

 

"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference-they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."

George Washington

The Founders never believed we got our rights from the government. If the United States goes away, the rights will still be there.

Some of our forefathers were actually afraid that the existence of a Bill of Rights as a part of our Constitution may have implied that the government not only had the right to change them, but that any rights not listed there were fair game for the government to deny. Reality shows us, the people, this is exactly what has happened. The government seems to have set itself up to be an interpreter of our rights; it acts as if it is also the source of our rights, and whatever rights weren't mentioned in the Bill of Rights, the government has seen fit to declare exist only at its discretion.

 

 

Specifically, the 9th and 10th Amendments prevent the government from taking away the rights of the people. These two Amendments were included in the Bill of Rights to quell the fears of men like Hamilton who were afraid that any rights not mentioned in the Bill of Rights would be usurped by the government. The 9th says that any rights not mentioned in the Bill of Rights are not to be denied to the people. The 10th says that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. So any powers not specifically given to the Federal government are not powers it can usurp. This means that the Founders didn't even have to specify we have the right to free speech, religion, jury trials, or anything else. Just read what our forefathers said…

In response to a proposal for gun registration George Washington said:

"Absolutely not. If the people are armed and the federalists do not know where the arms are, there can never be an oppressive government."

Amendment II is probably the most important Amendment, but is not recognized by some Americans as such! Wake-Up Americans! Amendment II, created by our forefathers, so that the people of the United States would be able to protect and defend ourselves & our families, as well as, defend ourselves against a tyrannical government.