From the time the Pilgrims arrived on American soil, faith in God played an important part in shaping our nation. Images of Moses adorn the Supreme Court in recognition of the Judeo-Christian origin of our laws. But it was Taxes, loss of Liberty and oppression from a mad king that led our Founding Fathers to write The Declaration of Independence and start The American Revolution. Today, those who stand for these ideals no longer call themselves The Silent Majority because we are silent no more.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our
wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot
alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams (1770)
(Publisher's Note: If you are not a gun owner, you may be among millions of Americans who feel threatened by the unlawful
possession and use of firearms. If so, you may also approve of the
latest effort to enact "sensible gun control policy." I invite you to
objectively consider this commentary, which is based on facts, including
the latest information from the FBI and other aggregators of criminal
data. It is not based on political agendas seeking to take
advantage of the genuine emotional response all Americans feel when
innocent men, women and children are murdered.)
In December, there was a horrible attack in an elementary school, committed by a mentally ill1 young man. He illegally obtained a rifle and a number of pistols, and used them to kill six adults and 20 children.
As a parent, I was deeply affected by this loss of life, especially
the faces of the children killed in that school. I am always moved by
the death of innocents, particularly children.
In the wake of that tragedy, some politicians did what they do best -- build a political platform2
on the caskets of children in order to seize and sequester the
emotional response of millions of Americans to advance a political
agenda. In this case, they concealed that agenda in emotive wrapping
paper, and sealed it with a lot of rhetorical demagoguery, hoping that
enough people would remain too immersed in their emotional state to
discern the real political agenda.
In a press conference Wednesday3,
Barack Obama made a broad emotional appeal "for the children":
"Protecting our children from harm shouldn't be divisive. ... I asked
Joe [Biden] to lead an effort along with members of my cabinet to come
up with some concrete steps we can take right now to keep our children
safe. ... This is our first task as a society -- keeping our children
safe. If there's even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if
there's even one life we can save, we have an obligation to try it. ... I
think about how, when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among
us, we must act now."
In other words, to counter the fact that his gun control agenda will,
in reality, do nothing to "protect the children," he has now lowered
expectations to maybe "one life we can save," and he insists Congress
"must act now" before reason overtakes emotion.
Obama went on to say, "If Americans of every background stand up and
say 'enough, we've suffered too much pain and care too much about our
children to allow this to continue,' then change will come."
Well, who could disagree with keeping children safe? But is that really the reason Obama is calling for the most restrictive gun control in the history of our Republic?
(Note: Regarding the use of children as "political pawns," White
House spokesman Jay Carney criticized the NRA for referencing the
protection of children in a Web ad. Carney protested, "Children should
not be used as pawns in a political fight." This briefing was an hour
after Obama surrounded himself with children as pawns in a political
fight.)
I don't doubt that Obama, like most parents, wants to keep his
children safe. In fact he surrounds his children with dozens of guns to
keep them safe everywhere they go. But there is also no doubt that his
agenda to restrict the ownership of guns has nothing, in fact, to do
with the safety of other children -- or anyone of any age.
There are a few proposals under consideration by Congress, in conjunction with Obama's ban on defensive weapons,
that should be enacted. For example, I support a background check for
all gun purchases, not just those from gun dealers. And we should have a
more comprehensive approach to identifying and treating those with
severe mental health problems -- though not likely under ObamaCare.
(I note that these measures would do little or nothing to stop
unlawful gun purchases for unlawful purposes, other than make it more
difficult for unqualified purchasers to acquire a weapon.)
But the centerpiece of Obama's gun control agenda is a ban on
so-called "assault weapons." I note "so-called" because this legislation
is more accurately described as a "defensive weapons" ban since such
arms are purchased, first and foremost, for defense and not assault.
Some liberal states and municipalities, in fact, are mounting their own
assaults on these weapons.
So, why all the political focus on "assault weapons"?
Because these weapons have been used in many murders, and crimes
involving them have increased dramatically in the last 20 years, when
gun control advocates coined the term "assault weapon," right?
Wrong. According to the FBI's most recent Uniform Crime Report4,
a summary of all serious crimes committed each year, in 1992 violent
crime incidence was 752 per 100,000 people and 9.3 murders per 100,000.
In 2011, the violent crime rate had dropped to 386 per 100,000 and the murder rate to 4.7 per 100,000 -- nearly a 50 percent decline
in both. This precipitous drop occurred at a time when the number of
firearms increased dramatically -- including the sale of more than six
million "assault weapons."
So, why all the political focus on "assault weapons"?
The 2011 FBI data shows that there were 323 murders committed with
rifles of any kind. However, guns defined as "assault weapons" by the
federal government were used in less than 0.5% (one-half of one percent)
of all murders with guns in 2011.
By comparison, 496 murders were committed with hammers and clubs, and
1,694 murders were perpetrated with knives. Notably, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that drunk drivers are
responsible for nearly 10,000 deaths each year in the U.S. -- far more
than the number of deaths involving guns of any kind in 2011. (Should
there be federal background checks every time someone orders a beer or
glass of Chardonnay?)
Additionally, according to the demographic and geographic profile of
most violent crimes, the vast majority of perpetrators who murder with
guns are associated with gangs and/or drug cartels5, which thrive on urban welfare plantations6.
(The violent culture spawned on those plantations is, of course, the
direct result of social and cultural degradation institutionalized by socialist Democrat7 welfare state policies.
Obama and Biden mentioned "gun violence" six times in their Wednesday
remarks, emphasizing that somehow "guns" are the problem, and not the
culture producing sociopathic gang-bangers who use guns and other
weapons to kill.
In fact, there were more than 500 murders in Obama's hometown of
Chicago last year -- a city with some of the most restrictive gun laws
in the nation. Most of those murders were tied to gangs and drugs8.
So, why all the political focus on "assault weapons"?
Well, isn't the Second Amendment9
about protecting the right of "hunters and sportsmen" to own guns? As
Obama said, "I respect our strong tradition of gun ownership and the
rights of hunters and sportsmen."
You know, of course, that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunters and sportsmen, regardless of whether Obama repeatedly frames it that way.
This most significant of all constitutional prohibitions on
government clearly and concisely 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."
In the parlance of our Founders, "militia" meant the whole body of
the people, as noted by Richard Lee in 1787: "A militia when properly
formed are in fact the people themselves ... and include ... all men
capable of bearing arms."
And, "being necessary to the security of a free State" meant that the
right of the people to bear arms was, and remains, the ultimate barrier
to government tyranny.
In the words of our Constitution's principal author, James Madison,
"The ultimate authority ... resides in the people alone. ... The
advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of
almost every other nation ... forms a barrier against the enterprises
of ambition." (Federalist No. 46)
So, why all the political focus on "assault weapons"?
Maybe there's a clue in the assessment of Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein's first "Assault Weapons Ban."
When Feinstein's first AWB passed in 1994 under the previous Democrat
president, Bill Clinton, the Washington Post candidly opined: "No one
should have any illusions about what was accomplished. Assault weapons
play a part in only a small percentage of crime. The provision is mainly
symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a
stepping stone to broader gun control."
When the Feinstein ban expired in 2004, a Department of Justice study10
noted, "Should it be renewed, the ban's effects on gun violence are
likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable
measurement. [Assault weapons] were rarely used in gun crimes even
before the ban."
Now Feinstein is leading Obama's legislative charge for "a stepping stone to broader gun control" with the effort to renew the ban11 on defensive weapons.
So, when Obama claims his intention is not "a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty," should you believe him?
Really, do you believe him?
There are now more than 60 million armed Patriots12 across our nation. Those who own the defensive weapons targeted by Obama and his NeoCom cadres13
do so not first and foremost for "hunting and sport shooting," though
these weapons can certainly be used for those purposes. We acquire
defensive weapons like the much-maligned AR-15, ultimately, to defend
ourselves, our Constitution and the Rule of Law14 it enshrines.
Obama is devoting all his political focus on "assault weapons" in
order to undermine the Second Amendment empowerment of today's "Patriot
Militia," much as the British attempted to do in 1775 when they marched
on Lexington and Concord to seize militia weapons. As you recall, that
intrusion led to the "shot heard 'round the world," the first shots of
the Revolutionary War, which gave rise to our great nation.
Obama's effort to launch his "assault weapons ban" is, as the
Washington Post surmised in 1994, "a stepping stone to broader gun
control." Disarm the people and you can undermine the vigor of their
readiness to defend our Constitution. It is those armed Patriots who
stand between the whole body of the American people and Obama's stated
goal of "fundamentally transforming the United States of America15."
So, what constitutes "sensible gun control policy" when by every objective account, more guns result in less crime?
If Obama, et al., really want to reduce our "national epidemic of
violence," they should focus on reforming the government policies that
created the socialist urban plantations where most violence occurs.
The proposed "assault weapons ban" and other efforts to restrict,
register and ultimately confiscate lawfully acquired guns used for
lawful purposes is both an affront to our individual human right of self
defense and our corporate responsibility to defend our Constitution.
(Ask New Orleans registered gun owners about the consequences of gun
confiscation from law-abiding citizens in the chaos after Hurricane
Katrina.)
It is for that reason I have pledged16:
In keeping with the oath I have taken in the service of my country, I
will "support and defend" Liberty as "endowed by our Creator" and
enshrined in our Constitution, "against all enemies, foreign and
domestic." Accordingly, I will NOT comply with any defensive weapons ban
instituted by executive order, legislative action or judicial diktat,
which violates the innate human right to defend self and Liberty, as
empowered by "the right of the People to keep and bear arms."
If you don't yet understand the consequences of statist gun control
agendas, let me offer you 100 million additional reasons to reject
socialist political agendas, particularly gun control mandates --
reasons that are buried, mostly in mass graves, around the world. During
the 20th century, tyrannical socialist governments in Germany, Russia,
China, Korea and other nations murdered more than 100 million of their
own people. But first, before committing their systematic slaughter,
these regimes disarmed their citizenry.
If you are not a gun owner, that's OK. But I suggest you thank every
gun owner you know, because in states with few gun restrictions, violent
offenders can't tell which homes have armed occupants and which don't.
And incarcerated offenders report that the number-one factor in choosing
a victim is the ability of the victim to defend themselves.
(Footnote: Regarding the media comparisons between the U.S. and
nations like Great Britain, which has already confiscated weapons,
clearly, there are few murders with guns in those nations. However, the
incidence of violent crime in the UK19
is almost twice the per capita rate of the U.S., and it affects a much
broader demographic swath of citizens. And speaking of British
disarmament, I'm reminded of this observation from a man whose name is
synonymous with pacifism. In his autobiography, Mohandas Gandhi
protested, "Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history
will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the
blackest.")
Pro Deo et Constitutione — Libertas aut Mors
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis
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My name is Nelson Abdullah. I am 77-years old and after 40 years of working for two major airlines, I retired 15 years ago in 2002, a few months after the 9-11 attack on America. My wife and I have been married for more than 56 years. We celebrated our Golden Anniversary in April 2010.
My wife and I are both lifelong Catholics and registered Republicans.
Our country was created as a Constitutional Republic, a nation of laws, held together by the fabric of the Constitution. The Constitution limits the powers of the government while the first ten amendments, called The Bill of Rights, guarantee the rights of We The People. Defending the Republic.
“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, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” —The Declaration of Independence—July 4th, 1776.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
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.
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