I have often wondered what is so hard to understand about the statements in the US Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights. Folks on the Left bend over backwards trying to reinterpret something that the Founders took great pains to make clear.
For example, the second amendment to the US Constitution says: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Look at the wording that was painstakingly written so that everyone down through the years would understand the intention of the Convention. “…the right of the people…” It does not say the military nor the police force. It says the people! “…to keep and bear Arms,…” It not only says that the people have a right to own weapons but that they have a right to carry them. And lastly, “…shall not be infringed.” Who exactly would be those who would attempt to infringe on that enumerated right?
The Founders made clear that the government was not permitted to take away the right of the people to possess and to carry weapons. Notice it does not restrict what kind of weapons can be kept and carried.
Over the years Congress has attempted to restrict the possession of various weapons. We constantly hear of “common sense” gun laws. But what it all comes down to is infringing on the right of the people to own weapons.
Sometimes those in the government define for the “people” what guns are needed for. Trying to define so-called “assault weapons” as not necessary for hunting or sport is simply an attempt to restrict how guns may be used.
Those who wrote our Constitution had just come through a war to purchase their freedom from a tyrannical government. All of them were very much aware that if the colonists had not been armed, that revolution would not have been possible. So, restricting the use of guns to sport reflects a desire to disable the citizenry from the ability to stand up to oppression and tyranny. We hear it when Joe Biden talks about not having the right to own tanks.
There have been many attempts over the years to “infringe” on the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms.” The government has tried an assault weapons ban but was never really able to clearly define what an assault weapon was.
One of the latest attempts to restrict gun ownership is red flag laws. These laws permit the government to take a person’s guns away if that person is deemed either to be a threat to others or him/herself. The unanswered question there is, who determines that degree of “threat”? And in most cases the individual having his/her weapons taken away has no access to due process.
Another attempt of the Left to restrict gun ownership is a “bump stock” ban. The ATF defined all bump-stock-type devices as machine guns, therefore making them illegal. The ban that went into effect in March 2019 was recently struck down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, declaring that it was up to the U.S. Congress rather than the president to act.
Now the ATF is at it again; this time attempting to impose strict regulations on the possession of “stabilizing braces.” Stabilizing braces were designed to help disabled persons shoot more comfortably. Basically, stabilizing braces adapt AR-style pistols into guns that can be shot from the shoulder.
The proposed ATF regulations would govern guns with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles which are already highly regulated. Of course, one of the problems with this is that unelected bureaucrats are imposing regulations on our 2nd Amendment rights instead of our elected representatives in Congress. And as the 5th Circuit just decided, the administration doesn’t have the right to “make law.” How the courts would rule if Congress passed these regulations isn’t known but at least the voters would have the option to either re-elect or vote out those who passed such legislation.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1976 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. From state legislatures and city councils to the United States Congress and the White House, GOA represents the views of gun owners whenever their rights are threatened.
Erich Pratt is the Senior Vice President for Gun Owners of America. GOA is a national grassroots organization representing more than two million gun owners dedicated to promoting their Second Amendment freedom to keep and bear arms.
Pratt has appeared on numerous national radio and TV programs such as NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC, CNN, CBS, and Fox Cable News. His columns have appeared in newspapers across the country, including USA Today.
In addition to authoring a book, “Bearing Arms: Our Rights, Our Duties & Our Freedoms,” he is the author of a civil government textbook, “The Constitutional Recipe for Freedom.”
Pratt has been involved with youth for over two decades, teaching civil government to high school students, serving as a Merit Badge Counselor in the Boy Scouts, and coaching Little League baseball teams.
Mr. Pratt and his wife, Stacy, have eleven children.
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