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How America’s Founders Actually Viewed The Second Amendment

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This following article will expose the real and true reasons for the Second Amendment and what it was meant to state when it was written and how the founders knew that the arms they discussed would become very different from the time the Amendment was written.

The founding fathers of our nation wrote the amendment as a way for the people to maintain the free United States and keep the government from becoming what we nearly have today.

Our nation has had the checks and balances that were supposed to have been used to keep the government in check tossed aside for the “greater good” of the Socialists who wish to dissolve the Second Amendment to take all the guns from the people and begin the removal of other liberties.

Let us begin to show just what the Founding Fathers wanted the Second Amendment to be used for.

Dan Zimmerman wrote an article on September 5, 2014, titled, The Second Amendment, the Founders and Original Intent. His article begins as shown below.

“Madison clearly states what a militia is and what its purpose is; to counter the federal government. The anti-gun folks pretend this and other documents don’t exist. They wish.

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. –Thomas Jefferson, proposal to the Virginia Constitution.

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of troops, that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States” –Noah Webster, 1787

Liberal propaganda aside, it’s very clear what the authors of the Second Amendment meant by “well regulated” They meant all those who could carry arms, organized when needed, to fight a corrupt federal government. So…who needs a select fire M-4 carbine? Every citizen who’s able to bear arms. That was the intent.” 

Pay close attention to the last paragraph which shows that the intent was to ensure that the PEOPLE have a right to arm themselves with any weapon they had a right to buy. This includes the semi-automatic arms.

It should be noted that before the government ruled that machine guns had to have a special license to obtain, machine guns were legal.

It is the government that has made the decision that the Second Amendment does not mean what the Founding Fathers meant it to be.

Why does the government want to remove guns from the citizens? We only have to go back in time to see just what happens when government removes all the weapons from the people.

Try going back to 1939 Germany when a man by the name of Adolph Hitler stood before children and made nearly the same statements that were made in the recent rallies in the US.

The Jewish people gave their arms up and Hitler killed millions because they had no way to defend themselves from the Nazi Government.

“The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the state government. It is one of the “High Powers” delegated directly to the citizen, and is excepted out of the general powers of government. A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it because it is above the law, and independent of lawmaking.” Cockrum v State, 24Tex394 (1859)

We see a case that makes the statement about rights that are showing without a doubt that, “The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms, in a lawful defense of himself or the state, is absolute. He does not derive it from the state government.”

This clearly shows that the right to bear arms is above the Second Amendment and cannot be violated.

Yet, our government has slowly destroyed this platform and one has to wonder just what the government is doing.

One also has to wonder just what is the end platform the government is looking for by attempting to destroy all the Second Amendment rights “WE THE PEOPLE” have?

We have seen the government in some instances go after our First Amendment rights so now they are viciously attacking our Second Amendment rights. “WE THE PEOPLE” have to pay attention to what is going on because if the Second Amendment is removed, “WE THE PEOPLE” have no way to keep the government removing other freedoms and beginning to control every facet of our lives.

At that point, the term “WE THE PEOPLE” will lose all meaning due to the fact that the government will have control over nearly everything we do, think, or say.

Let that sink in.

Let us look at some more of the ideas of the Second Amendment.

In 1867, Judge Timothy Farrar published his Manual of the Constitution of the United States of America, which was written when the Fourteenth Amendment was “in the process of adoption by the State legislatures.”

The States are recognized as governments, and, when their own constitutions permit, may do as they please; provided they do not interfere with the Constitution and laws of the United States, or with the civil or natural rights of the people recognized thereby, and held in conformity to them. The right of every person to “life, liberty, and property,” to “keep and bear arms,” to the “writ of habeas corpus” to “trial by jury,” and divers others, are recognized by, and held under, the Constitution of the United States, and cannot be infringed by individuals or even by the government itself.

Farrar, Timothy (1872). Manual of the Constitution of the United States of America. Little, Brown. Retrieved July 6,2013. § 34. The people of the United States, in making their Constitution, do not create or confer on themselves any new rights, but they expressly reserve all the rights they then held, except what were delegated for their own benefit; and they particularly and expressly recognize and perpetuate many natural and civil common-law rights, which, of course, are placed beyond the reach of any subordinate government, and even of their own. Among these are the following : 1. The right to be, what they call themselves, ‘the people of the United States,’ citizens, and component members of the body politic, – the nation; and to participate in all the privileges, immunities, and benefits the Constitution was designed to obtain or secure for all the American people, especially the right to be protected and governed according to the provisions of the Constitution. 2. A right to the privileges and immunities of citizens in any of the several States. Among these is the fundamental and elementary right of suffrage. The Representatives to the national and State legislatures must be chosen by the people, the citizens (Section 2). Consequently, the citizens must choose them, and have a right to choose them. Am. 14, § 2. 3. A right to the common-law writ of habeas corpus, to protect the other common-law right, as well as natural and constitutional right, of personal liberty. 4. A right to trial by jury in any criminal case. 5. A right to keep and bear arms. 6. A right to life, liberty, and property, unless deprived by due process of law. 7. A right to just compensation for private property legally taken for public use. 8. A right to participate in all rights retained by, or reserved to, the people. Most of these rights, with many others, belong by the Constitution not only to the citizens, – the people of the United States, strictly so called, by reason of the franchise of natural birth or otherwise, – but also to all persons who may be allowed to be and remain under the jurisdiction and protection of our government. These are a part only of the rights held by every member of the nation, under and by virtue of the Constitution of the United States, independent of any other earthly power, and which, of course, ‘cannot be destroyed or abridged by the laws of any particular State.’ Who, then, in the United States is destitute of rights?…The States are recognized as governments, and, when their own constitutions permit, may do as they please; provided they do not interfere with the Constitution and laws of the United States, or with the civil or natural rights of the people recognized thereby, and held in conformity to them. The right of every person to ‘life, liberty, and property,’ to ‘keep and bear arms,’ to the ‘writ of habeas corpus’ to ‘trial by jury,’ and divers others, are recognized by, and held under, the Constitution of the United States, and cannot be infringed by individuals or even by the government itself.

We could show all sorts of rulings for and against the Second Amendment.

What has to be understood is the simple idea of self-protection and whether or not that self-protection should include whatever weapon can best be used for self-protection.

The great debate today is against what some mistakenly call “assault weapons.” The name makes it sound very bad but in reality th,e description itself first described a weapon that could fire fully automatic or in short 3 round bursts. Today the term “assault weapon” could mean nearly any sort of semi-automatic weapon, handguns, shotguns and rifles.

Questions are asked why a semi-auto rifle is needed for hunting. That question is asked by people who have no idea of what lurks in the woods and what is needed to defend oneself from predators that may well attack. Many have gone in the woods and found themselves face to face with wild boars which could easily tear into a person’s leg, knock them down and kill them. There are also coyotes and, in certain sections, wolves, but many other wild animils could attack an individual while they are in the woods and without a semi-automatic weapon, they could be badly injured or even killed.

Hunters have been very glad to have a semi-auto weapon with them when faced with wild animals. Just days ago, this author was shadowed by a pack of coyotes and had he not had a semi-auto, he would have been attacked by them.  Instead, he shot several times to disperse the animals which then went into the woods, giving him time to leave the area.

Also, sometimes a hunter misses his first shot and with a bolt action rifle, he may not have time to get a second shot off at the game where with a semi-automatic, he can place at least a second and maybe a third shot to bring his prey down. It is not the weapon that makes the Socialists/Communists, which the Progressive, Liberal Democratic Party has become, cower down in fear, it is the fact that should they attempt to force a dictatorship on the people, they will be able to fight for their freedom.

We need only to look at what our founding fathers stated about the Second Amendment to understand that they meant any sort of weapon no matter when. These quotes seem to show that is the idea.

Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. – James Madison

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

The conclusion is thus inescapable that the history, concept, and wording of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as well as its interpretation by every major commentator and court in the first half-century after its ratification, indicates that what is protected is an individual right of a private citizen to own and carry firearms in a peaceful manner. – Report of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 97th Congress, Second Session (February 1982)

The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed. – Alexander Hamilton

When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually…I ask, who are the militia? They consist of now of the whole people, except a few public officers. But I cannot say who will be the militia of the future day. If that paper on the table gets no alteration, the militia of the future day may not consist of all classes, high and low, and rich and poor… – George Mason, Virginia Constitution Convention

A strong body makes a strong mind. As to the species of exercise I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion of your walks. – Thomas Jefferson

To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them. – Richard Henry Lee 1788

To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them. – George Mason

Laws that forbid the carrying of arms… disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes… Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. – Thomas Jefferson’s “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764

…arms…discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. …Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them. — Thomas Paine

“The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that… it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” –Thomas Jefferson

We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists. – Patrick Henry

“When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. 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

“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. [Misattributed]” ― Thomas Jefferson

“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” ― Thomas Jefferson

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” ― Thomas Jefferson, Complete Jefferson

“The constitution shall never be construed…to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” ― Alexander Hamilton

“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.” – George Washington

Given all the words from those who designed and wrote our Second Amendment, it would indicate that the idea to ensure the “People” have a right to own any arm that they wish was their intention.

Tom Clancy may well have stated it best about gun ownership.

“Switzerland is a land where crime is virtually unknown, yet most Swiss males are required by law to keep in their homes what amounts to a portable, personal machine gun.” –Tom Clancy

We need to look at what a patriot of the United States said to realize that the men who wrote the Constitution knew some bad people would try to take the guns.

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any body of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.” – Noah Webster

So, given the idea of the Democrats who wish to disarm “WE THE PEOPLE,” are the Democrats about to create a standing army?  We have to ask this because to disarm the citizens is to make the government the one to enslave us all because we have no way to defend ourselves from any criminal which would have guns no matter how illegal it would be.

In closing, we can safely state that one individual was very happy when he achieved total gun registration of the entire nation. His quote is below.  Read it and let it sink in as it closely mirrors what is going on today in our United States. Let us Never allow this to happen.

“This year will go down in history. For the first time, a Civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!” -Adolf Hitler 1935

Article posted with permission from Freedom Outpost. Article by Leon Puissegur


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