“I do not like [in the new Federal Constitution] the omission of a Bill of Rights providing clearly and without the aid of sophisms for... protection against standing armies.” --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787. ME 6:387
The title of this article may lead you to believe you’ll be reading about gun rights only. However, to cover the 2nd Amendment properly, the Constitution must be covered as well. The wording of the 2nd Amendment makes it a double-edged sword, as is the Constitution. Not only that, but the Constitution is more important than the 2nd Amendment because the latter derives all of its energy from the former.
On the topic of swords, they are only effective with a handle. The handle is where the user takes a grip and puts the sword into action. Without the handle, the sword is useless. And just as a sword is only as effective as the competency of its user, so is the Constitution. This topic is the last of three topics examined in this article, and the first of which will cover the “right” to bear arms.
The Guarantee Edge-
The 2nd Amendment clearly states that “the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”, and there is no way around it. The body of the Constitution implies nothing protecting the right to keep and bear arms, as it does for protection. Another important fact is that the Articles of Confederation, our first form of government, also did not mention the right to bear arms. However, the Articles of Confederation did say specifically that “every state shall keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of field pieces, tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage”.
Why would the Constitution, the upgrade from the Articles of Confederation, need the 2nd Amendment while its predecessor did not? One possible answer is that invoking the Constitution meant giving the Federal government much more power over the states than the previous government. The Bill of Rights was added to gain ratification. Under the confederation or a “firm league of friendship”, there was no strong central government to guarantee the guarantee. The 2nd Amendment was written to protect the establishment of the militia by restraining the federal government from infringing on the states.
This makes the addition of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution even more important and speaks volumes of the great tyranny it would be to undermine it. It also speaks volumes about the real intent of the 2nd Amendment, which had more to do with what the founders were trying to avoid. That takes us to the next topic.
The Obligation Edge-
As mentioned previously, the 2nd Amendment wording makes it a double-edged sword. The edges of this sword are equal and not so separate stations. One edge depends on the other, and both depend on the energy of the Constitution. “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State” is no less inarguable than the guarantee part of the amendment. It means exactly what it says: without a well-regulated Militia, there is no security, and therefore the free State is compromised.
To fully understand the 2nd Amendment, there are two things about it that you cannot dismiss, and they are the intent of its insertion and where it draws its energy.
First, the Second Amendment intended to do two things. The first was to satisfy the objections of the remaining states during the Ratification process. Many of the holdout states of the time were concerned with the federal government’s tendency not only to disarm citizens but even more so to form large overgrown armies. Overgrown armies, up to that time, have been the enemy of liberty to the nations that support them. That is why the “Well-Regulated” phrase was put before the “shall not be infringed” part in the amendment because the overall intent was primarily to avoid an overgrown Army, more than it was to protect “gun rights”.
Second, the 2nd Amendment gets its validity from 2 places in the Constitution. The 2 places in the Constitution which provide the basis and intent of the 2nd Amendment are Article I; Section 8 Clauses 11-16 & Article II; Section 2 and are outlined below.
11-To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
12-To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
13-To provide and maintain a Navy;
14-To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
15-To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions;
16-To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
&
Article II; Section 2
The President shall be the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States;
Starting with Article 8; Section 1, it doesn’t take a lawyer to figure out its intent. There is supposed to be an armed militia in each state, maintained, trained, supplied, armed, and managed by each of their respective states according to the “discipline prescribed by Congress.
To further confirm the “militia mandate” of the Constitution is Article II; Section 2, which says that the President will be the Commander of the Militia, when called into the actual Service of the U.S. How is the President going to be Commander in Chief of a militia if there isn’t one to command? The answer is that he cannot. You may be thinking that the National Guard is the replacement for the Militia; however, the National Guard is not what was intended and does not meet the requirements of Article I; Section 8 Clauses 15 & 16. Also, the National Guard is voluntary; the militia is not. “Not voluntary” means “obligation.”
This being said, it is still tyranny to infringe on gun ownership rights. And don’t feel bad about your lack of militia service, because there is no militia to join. It was the job of Congress, and each state, to “provide” and “prescribe discipline” for the well-regulated militias of the states.
Merely calling out tyranny doesn’t prevent it, but understanding the Constitution and the Founding Principles would.
The Handle
“Respect for its [The Constitution’s] authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty.”
The Constitution of the U.S., our second form of government after the original Confederation, is a Republican Constitution and is meant to be the highest authority in the land. That is how a Republic works, and the only way it works. The guarantees it provides are purely dependent upon the obedience of the citizens and the government to the Constitution. Obedience to the Constitution is what gives it its energy. If the Constitution loses its energy, then the Bill of Rights loses its energy as well. The Constitution is designed to protect our Republican Liberty, and it cannot do that if its Authority is not upheld.
Like I’ve always said…subjects make tyrants, not the other way around, and that is the case for gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment. Once the concept of obligated militia died, the 2nd Amendment began its decline. It’s the disregard for sovereign authority that leads to tyranny and inevitably calamity.
The constitution is not only a sovereign authority, but it’s an ordained authority. It is our God-given manual on keeping and protecting our country. It is all or nothing. If we do not honor the ordained and sovereign authority, then we are a pseudo-republic with pseudo-guarantees. We are rights-based, with no sense of duty or direction, each deciding what is right for ourselves, which is the definition of Anarchy.
“The Constitution that we have is an excellent one if we can keep it where it is.” ~ George Washington
So, what’s the answer? It starts with the Foundation. If the rule is not knowing the Constitution, then the exception will be to obey it. Obeying the Constitution is the same as holding the handle of a sword. The more of our nation that knows and adheres to the Constitution’s authority, the more effective we are in protecting our liberty and pursuing the things that the Declaration of Independence talks about.
The Second Amendment is not a talking point; it’s an obligation, and the more we defend rights, the more criminalized we become to the would-be tyrants who also don’t understand how our Republic is supposed to function.
And never forget…The choice is yours.
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