Friday, January 11, 2013

The Right to Bear Arms?

The Constitution states that citizens have the right to form militias and own guns and that the government can not do anything that will infringe on that right. 

A gun is a concept that encompasses anything that is a part of a gun; i.e., magazines, sights, triggers, handles, barrels, etc.  In other words a gun is the sum of its parts.  Anything that is part of that gun cannot be tampered with.  The capacity of a gun cannot be infringed upon because it is an integral part of a gun. Ammunition is part of a gun and cannot be regulated because it is an integral part of a gun--without ammunition the gun cannot function and function is part of a gun.  What does the Constitution really mean regarding guns?

It's only mention as to purpose for having a gun is the ability to form a well regulated militia.  Why is a militia needed?  For protection against governments, domestic and foreign is the answer.  The Declaration of Independence gives an example for why civilians form militias--a tyrannical government taking rights and liberty away from civilians.  Do we see this happening now?  Right now people are being incarcerated without benefit of council.  It is suspected that our communications are being monitored without due process of law.  Surveillance cameras are going up everywhere.  A trend is developing where government is finding ways to circumvent existing basic rights and the law in order to control The People.  A government agency can declare you a terrorist, snatch you off the street, and lock you up, without anyone knowing where you are, indefinitely.  All of this with the assumption that the government's power is being used for The People's benefit.  But is it?  What about the future?  The government's purpose is to control the people.  The People's purpose is to have freedom, to be able to come and go without restrictions, to engage in activities that benefit them, which is against the purpose of the government.  How much control does the people have over the government?  Guns and numbers is the answer to that question. 

Right in the middle of all this is the judicial system, which is known to be biased, yet rules on legislation designed to control people's actions.  People in government are there because they want to control people and use the government as a tool to do so.  Legislation is used to coerce, influence, and physically control people. It is only partly our friend.  The big question is will it be our friend in the future.  If not, will a 10 shot magazine be sufficient?  Of course a 20 round magazine would be better?  Guns keep governments honest. 

A solution of arming teachers has been raised.  If an event happens in a school what generally happens?  A person trained to handle a gun is called.  What would be quicker, calling someone a couple miles away, or having someone on the premises who could respond?  A delicate question to be sure.  The big question is why is this happening? 

The answer seems to be that certain individuals crave publicity, of a notorious sort.  For some reason they have a need to be famous.  That coupled with a sociopathic nature results in people being killed.  They aren't crazy in a legal sense, but are "different" in that they feel compelled to gain notoriety be doing something completely antisocial.  How do you prevent someone from committing such an atrocity?  The government's answer is to control people, which means taking away guns and related hardware and the anonymity of possessing a gun that true ownership without government control implies. In other words if the people are required to inform the government that they have ammunition, a certain type and make of gun, it is implied that the government has the right of taking a gun away.  The government then controls the gun, not the people.