I'm Not Gun Crazy, I'm Constitution Crazy

    I'm Not Gun Crazy,  I'm  Constitution  Crazy

My wife says I’m  gun crazy. But I’m not, I’m Constitution Crazy.  

While I’ve had a lifelong interest and fascination and respect for firearms, their many uses as a tool, mostly for good and sometimes for evil.  The history of this country is inextricably  linked to firearms, and their uses for both defense of of the country and for sporting, and hunting. In many respects we  would not be the country we are today without the firearms.  The defense  of the free world rested on the millions of brave soldiers from all over the world who took up guns and defended the rights of all free nations to exist in World War II. The vast majority of the guns used in that great defense were made here. Some of the most iconic firearms in the world were developed here. Many of the basic designs by John Browning are still in use today, many have been tweaked but still remain basically unchanged in form and function since  John Browning, and his contemporaries designed them over a century ago.

Fast forward, to today, Today there is an assault on the basic rights of every American in the country. What Hitler and his contemporaries couldn’t do from the outside,in the 1940’s and was never quite accomplished in the 1950’s with Joseph McCartney  and his witch hunt in the 1950’s if finally starting to be done today.

There has been a push to limit  the rights and ability of the public to exercise one of their basic constitutional rights , the right to keep and bear arms.

    

    There are 27 amendments to the constitution.   Here is a summary of  the first 10 of them;  The  first 10 are called the Bill Of Rights.  Here is the page where I got them; Bill of Rights

Amendment 1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment 2

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.

Amendment 3

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment 4

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment 5

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment 6

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment 7

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment 8

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment 9

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment 10

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

There are several items worth noting in the above, One being that the first  amendment says what Congress  cannot do.    

 The Constitution is the ultimate  “Law of the Land”  That is to say, whatever other laws congress and the states may pass, they subject in the end to passing the test of the Constitution,; does it follow into the letter of the law, or in the very least spirit of the Constitution,  If a law does not fall in line with the above, then its illegal and should be thrown out.  However, being that many of the amendments are very broadly written, there is much room for personal interpretation by both officials, and supreme courts. Whenever an elected official takes office, among other things they swear to “Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States” To my mind that means not introducing laws or ordinances which limit the citizens rights to enjoy their Constitutional rights. To my mind to bring such laws up for vote and worst yet, passing them is essentially treason to the country and should be treated as such.

    Of course the main theme of this article, is “Gun Control”  but the bigger picture is that by limiting the public's right to exercise their rights as given to them by the Constitution  they open the door to  abusing more and more of everyone's rights.

Limiting the public's right to exercise one amendment is opening the door to limiting other right in the long run.  There are already cases where, both state and federal governments have used questionable methods  to get information and   limit the public's rights. If possible to do an end-run around the law, to accomplish their  goals of tightening up  regulations to get or own a firearm, or especially concealed carry.

 A number of questions have occurred to me lately;  One of the main ones is How does a rich mayor of a city become as influential and powerful as Michael Bloomberg , of New York City? While I lived on the other end of the state for many years, there were many issues in our poor rural agriculture  county, Gun Rights, was not one of them. Everyone had a gun, If not specifically for self-defense, but as a pest control and hunting weapon.

While on the surface of it, no one want dangerous people to get guns, be the career criminal, or  mentally ill.  There solution to theses issues, it called enforcing the laws we have in place, and the health system taking responsibility for the patients they have in their charge and doing what is needed for both the patients and publics safety.

The Constitution is the basis of all  of the laws on which we govern ourselves. Any person or agency that through  action, or inaction causes the undermining of the constitution and it provisions is guilty of treason. By bringing up laws that restrict the public's rights to exercise their rights, either through out  denial, or making it so arduous and expensive or otherwise impossible for them to reasonably exercise their rights is guilty of the above mentioned treason.

There are seven main battleground states for the fight to keep and bear arms;

New York, New Jersey, Massessatues Colorado, Illinois  Connecticut, and California.

Theses are the main states which have been trying to enact laws which limit the legal law abiding citizens rights to buy guns, and the places and methods to transporting them, and , in California's case even going to the extent of trying ban lead ammunition , thus effectively banning hunting in the state. Chicago, which has one of the highest crime rates in the country , also has the tightest restriction on getting and gun, and a carry permit in the country. It seems to me, the lesson here, is the tighter the laws, the worst the crime rate is.  In states where its earlier to own a gun, and get a permit, the crime rate is considerably lower; doses that tell you something?

To sum it up, its not just about the guns themselves, while their important, the bigger issue is the attack on the Constitution, and the bill of Rights, once one is weaken, if not toppled, it won’t take much for the rest to fall.

Something to think about.

Kenneth Lawson