The title is not mine but from a paper written by Jeffrey R. Snyder in '93
Here's the link if you wish to read the whole thing. A Nation of Cowards
I have skimmed it and like what I saw. The last bit of the paper is what sticks with me regaurding the 2nd.
What we certainly do not need is more gun control. Those who call
for the repeal of the Second Amendment so that we can really begin
controlling firearms betray a serious misunderstanding of the Bill of
Rights. The Bill of Rights does not grant rights to the people, such
that its repeal would legitimately confer upon government the powers
otherwise proscribed. The Bill of Rights is the list of the fundamen-
tal, inalienable rights, endowed in man by his Creator, that define
what it means to be a free and independent people, the rights which
must exist to ensure that government governs only with the consent of
the people.
At one time this was even understood by the Supreme Court. In United
States v. Cruikshank (1876), the first case in which the Court had an
opportunity to interpret the Second Amendment, it stated that the right
confirmed by the Second Amendment "is not a right granted by the
constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that ins-
trument for its existence." The repeal of the Second Amendment would
no more render the outlawing of firearms legitimate than the repeal of
the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment would authorize the
government to imprison and kill people at will. A government that
abrogates any of the Bill of Rights, with or without majority approval,
forever acts illegitimately, becomes tyrannical, and loses the moral
right to govern.
This is the uncompromising understanding reflected in the warning
that America's gun owners will not go gently into that good, utopian
night: "You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands."
While liberals take this statement as evidence of the retrograde, vio-
lent nature of gun owners, we gun owners hope that liberals hold
equally strong sentiments about their printing presses, word
processors, and television cameras. The Republic depends upon fervent
devotion to all our fundamental rights.
Here's the link if you wish to read the whole thing. A Nation of Cowards
I have skimmed it and like what I saw. The last bit of the paper is what sticks with me regaurding the 2nd.
What we certainly do not need is more gun control. Those who call
for the repeal of the Second Amendment so that we can really begin
controlling firearms betray a serious misunderstanding of the Bill of
Rights. The Bill of Rights does not grant rights to the people, such
that its repeal would legitimately confer upon government the powers
otherwise proscribed. The Bill of Rights is the list of the fundamen-
tal, inalienable rights, endowed in man by his Creator, that define
what it means to be a free and independent people, the rights which
must exist to ensure that government governs only with the consent of
the people.
At one time this was even understood by the Supreme Court. In United
States v. Cruikshank (1876), the first case in which the Court had an
opportunity to interpret the Second Amendment, it stated that the right
confirmed by the Second Amendment "is not a right granted by the
constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that ins-
trument for its existence." The repeal of the Second Amendment would
no more render the outlawing of firearms legitimate than the repeal of
the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment would authorize the
government to imprison and kill people at will. A government that
abrogates any of the Bill of Rights, with or without majority approval,
forever acts illegitimately, becomes tyrannical, and loses the moral
right to govern.
This is the uncompromising understanding reflected in the warning
that America's gun owners will not go gently into that good, utopian
night: "You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands."
While liberals take this statement as evidence of the retrograde, vio-
lent nature of gun owners, we gun owners hope that liberals hold
equally strong sentiments about their printing presses, word
processors, and television cameras. The Republic depends upon fervent
devotion to all our fundamental rights.
