Not Just Entertainment, But Self-Preservation

I would like to introduce Taegan, our newest Liberty First intern. She describes herself as:

Not Just Entertainment, But Self-Preservation

by Taegan James

For my last day at Liberty First, the Hall family took me to a sushi and hibachi restaurant so I could get the “hibachi experience” for the first time. The menu was so foreign to me, and I had no idea what anything even meant. I ended up ordering Chicken Teriyaki Hibachi for myself, and we all got some sushi to share. Now, my sushi experiences had previously been limited to a small town Michigan restaurant, and a mall food court. The only rolls I had ever tried were just wrapped in some plant-like film, so you can imagine my surprise when the sushi arrived and some were wrapped in raw fish. I have decided that I’m only grossed out if I think about the fact that I’m eating raw fish because once I got over the initial texture, I loved all the different types of sushi rolls. I even got in a lot of practice with chopsticks, and might be close to an intermediate level! When we had finished, the hibachi chef showed up and began his presentation and food preparation. The flames were leaping, he was flipping around his utensils, and did some pretty cool food tricks. My favorite thing he did was make a volcano out of onion ringlets and a little oil. Indeed the presentation was entertaining, and we all gleefully applauded his work. But he wasn’t just there for the purpose of entertaining; the food he prepared was absolutely delicious. The purpose of going to the restaurant was to eat, and the entertainment was simply an added bonus to the food.

Likewise, the purpose of gun ownership is not for entertainment. We don’t own guns because we enjoy hunting, skeet shooting, or gun collecting. I enjoy shooting guns as much as the next person because it IS quite fun.But the reason we have a right to keep in bear arms is so we may preserve our lives, liberties, and properties, not from criminals, but from the government itself. The media tries so hard to cater to the liberal agenda and blame guns for all the recent violence, but murder, mass killings, and acts of terror happen regardless of whether guns are involved or not. Just the other day, a man went on a stabbing spree at a center for the disabled in Japan, killing 19 and injuring 25. No gun was involved. Two men invaded a Catholic Church in France during morning mass, beheaded a priest, and took four others hostage. Again, no gun. Both Japan and France have extremely strict gun laws, yet that did not stop these killings. Evil dwells in the human, not in the instrument, and laws prohibiting weapons do not make the public safer.

There is a reason the second amendment was included in the Bill of Rights. Our Founders were not concerned with hunting, sport, collecting, or criminals. Now, it is not the Constitution that grants you the right to keep and bear arms; it is a natural right. Samuel Adams wrote, “Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can” (Sovereign Duty 136). The best manner to defend against tyrannical encroachments on life, liberty, and property is the use of guns! The Founding Fathers understood the necessity for the people to be able to punish tyranny if the need arose.

The only argument I’ve ever heard against the second amendment pertains to the phrase “a well-regulated militia,” and I never knew how to defend our right to bear arms against that contention, until now. KrisAnne walks everyone through the meaning of that clause in the Disarming of America class (photos from that class are featured here). She shows, through primary sources, the meanings of “militia” and well-regulated” from the men actually who created the Constitution. George Mason tells us that the militia is the WHOLE body of the people, with the exception of the regular troops and public officers. That means that every single person, withstanding those public officers, IS the militia, and has the rights to keep and bear arms. The phrase “well-regulated” simply means the whole body is taught how to bears arms at a young age in order to exercise that right in the same way every time, without deviation or error. That is the proper and accurate meaning of “a well-regulated militia”; not a selected group under the control and regulation of the government. The whole body of the people should be able to outnumber the government in arms in order to repel a standing army and defend themselves.

Perhaps the time has not, and may never, come when we need to take up arms against internal tyranny, but what if we do? We know there is corruption within government. We know our rights and liberties have been altered, infringed upon, and are on the brink of being revoked altogether. How are we supposed to rein in tyrants? Perhaps we assemble and hold hearings to punish and remove them from office. Patrick Henry mocked this idea and the man who suggested it by saying, “O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! … Did you ever read of any revolution in a nation, brought about by the punishment of those in power, inflicted by those who had no power at all?” (Debate in Virginia Ratifying Convention). The federal government knows We the People hold this power, and this is why they are slowly disarming the public.They are turning the RIGHT to keep and bear arms into a PRIVILEGE by requiring their permission to own and use a gun. Before you know it, they will stop granting us their permission; effectively disarming the people. If you can disarm the people, you can enslave them. We are not subjects in a kingdom; we are citizens in a republic, and the employers of the government. Let’s keep it that way.

Pursuing truth and defending liberty, always.

-A Devoted Patriot