If there is something in Constitutional news that comes up as frequently as a fat man at an all-you-can-eat buffet, it is the 2nd Amendment. In the wake of several recent shootings, democrats have predictably called for more “gun control.” California Congressman and long-shot 2020 presidential candidate Eric Swalwell calls for the confiscation/buy-back of so-called “assault” weapons. This is a normal democratic position, but CNN’s Jake Tapper then asked a key question that most democrats aren’t willing to answer as straightforward as Rep. Swalwell was. Jake Tapper asked, “What’s the punishment for people who don’t hand in their guns? Do they go to jail?” Swalwell responded, “Well, Jake, they would.” Swalwell immediately offered an “alternative” which is that they could be kept at a gun club or shooting range. That is merely smoke, however, for what Swalwell is saying; that a democratic-led government will want you to hand over any weapon that they deem “scary” or “military grade,” and if you don’t, you can be arrested. New Jersey Senator and 2020 Presidential candidate Cory Booker put out a plan that would call for banning “assault” weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bulk purchasing. He would also require all gun owners to go through a national licensing program run by the federal government. When pressed by CNN about whether those who don’t turn in their guns would be prosecuted, Booker squirmed, “Again, we should have a law that bans these weapons and we should have a reasonable period in which people can turn in these weapons” That doesn’t answer the question Senator Booker. What happens if I don’t want to give up my AR-15?
That question leads to a deeper question. Why don’t responsible gun owners want to surrender their AR-15 style weapons? The one word answer is Venezuela!
If one looks at the unrest which has recently taken place there, it becomes obvious why a free and responsible people want to keep and bear arms. MSNBC, in no way a right wing news organization, essentially made the case for why the 2nd Amendment is important. Reporter Kerry Sanders, during a recent report on the unrest in Venezuela, said, “You have to understand, in Venezuela gun ownership is not something that is open to everybody. So if the military have the guns, they have the power, and as long as Nicolas Maduro controls the military, he controls the country.” The reason for why we support the Constitutional right of law-abiding citizens keeping and bearing arms couldn’t be better summed up than that quote. Do you think Maduro would be allowing his soldiers to use armored vehicles to hit civilians if he knew half a million of his people were armed with dressed-up hunting rifles? The example of Venezuela shows that we have the 2nd Amendment in order to protect the liberties and ideals that this nation was based on from government tyranny.
America was founded upon the ideal stated in the Declaration of Independence, “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 abolish it.” The idea here is that men are created free and that government is there to protect and preserve God-given rights. If government fails to do that, and if ALL other forms of redress are exhausted, it is a citizen’s duty to throw off the oppressive government.
People like Senator Booker and Representative Swalwell fail to understand the importance of a well-armed population. The 2nd Amendment is the “spare tire” of the U.S. Constitution. We never want to use it, but if all else fails, it is there. However, if Americans are disarmed as they would be under the plans of Sen. Booker and Rep. Swalwell, Americans would be helpless to defend themselves should a tyrant like Maduro gain power in our country. Venezuelans would love to have a 2nd Amendment as they resist a heavy-handed dictator. Americans who don’t understand or want to limit the 2nd Amendment need only look at Venezuela to understand why we have it.
Freedom is important and it is also important that those who are running for the highest office in the country are willing to defend, not remove, our liberty.
Isaac Hadam is an 18 year old who writes and speaks about the U.S. Constitution. He is the Vice-President of the Constitutional Awareness Pact, has written for the Conway Daily Sun, and is a contributing writer to the Weirs Times. For more info please visit www.constitutionalawarenesspact.webs.com.
