Obama’s Mousetraps and Our 2nd Amendment Rights
Guns do not kill people. People kill people. Obviously, President Obama does not like westerns. The gun is as American as turkey and Coke and hamburgers. Do you remember the movie Shane?
The president’s rationale is that guns are inherently unsafe, thus: fewer guns equals fewer deaths. Mr. President, do fewer mousetraps equal fewer rats or more rats? Would I rather have two rats in the house or two mousetraps? Then again, not every mousetrap catches a rat. Even Hamlet was not sure when he sprung his… Shakespearean references aside, to say that every mousetrap catches a rat is to generalize.
A generalization is only true when the two related concepts are “instances” of each other, which means every gun causes death and every death is caused by a gun. However, even if we limit ourselves only to guns (which is grossly misleading – ISIS, for instance, use primarily knives and bombs), it is not a true statement, because one instance of the latter is not always the instance of the former: a gun saves lives in as many instances, if not more, as when it causes death. I have seen robbers run out of a store at the first sight of a real gun in the hands of the store owner…
President Obama would have to ascertain instances in which a gun saved lives vs. instances in which it caused deaths in order to limit his generalization. An unlimited generalization is necessarily an unverified generalization. In this instance, it is more than that: it is an unverifiable generalization, because the numbers of the two instances fluctuate and remain indeterminate. Sometimes, a gun does both: saves lives as well as kills (soldiers at war), on other occasions, it merely kills (a Chicago gang shootout).
Clearly, “make no mistake,” this is an instance of reverse logic, often applied by communists and other dictators: “It works because I say it works.” Of course, the ultimate goal here is to disarm population and make us totally dependent on the government. It may not seem like this is what the administration is after, and it may not be readily achievable (thanks to our system of checks-and-balances and our Supreme Court), but every chip off the block makes us weaker. All it takes is a 5-4 decision, a new Democrat appointee, Congress being unable to overrule a veto, and we are there. Beware! An executive state is a police state! Of course, in a police state, you need not be afraid primarily of a foreign invasion! BLM protest against a “police state?” Spoilt babies! They have no idea what a police state is!
As we know, the right to own firearms is anchored the Second Amendment. It is the second most important right we enjoy. The FIRST most important rights are in the First Amendment: the right to establish and exercise religious belief of our choice, the right to speak freely, free press, assembly, and the right to petition our government. Political correctness is a ruse to persuade us that we do not need or care for these rights, because the government will do it for us.
The 2nd Amendment is based on William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England (Chapter 1 “On the Absolute Rights of Individuals”). The right to keep and bear arms was anchored in the English Bill of Rights (1689). People have always had poor (realistic) experience with absolute monarchs and demagogues usurping powers. Sir William Blackstone described the right to bear arms as “necessary to self-defense, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state.”
If we start giving up our rights, the Fourth Amendment on searches and seizures will follow suit. Before long, we would have to “quarter” Muslims in our homes (3rd Amendment), and our 5th Amendment right not to incriminate ourselves would also fall – NSA and other federal (executive!) branches are growing like the arms of an octopus around the Plymouth rock even as we speak… It does not take that long once you let up, resign yourself to indifference, say: “I am not going to vote for XY because I don’t like his ego/face/wife…” You are voting for the preservation of your country and your rights – all of them!
Our rights have a long history and many people fought, struggled and died for them. None of them should be taken for granted or given up without a fight. Have you ever thought how amazing it is that we tolerate other religions? Before our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, there had been no other country in the world which tolerated all religions and faiths. Countries were torn apart, neighbor against neighbor, they fought till death and total demise to preserve their faith – torture, murder, genocide were common all over Europe.
The privileged left-wing propaganda babies of today, who grew up in the best country in the world enjoying all the rights and freedoms of capitalism, use words like “torture” and “genocide” and “war on women” without any meanings attached: they speak in order to “belong” and make themselves feel good and important. Why? They are not taught our history and literature in school! The Common Core masters bowdlerize and maim our literary canon by erasing n-words and phrases that do not chime in with their ideology, creating soulless slaves! Read the last page of Huck Finn: his “sivilze” means the crooked civilization of the past, subjugation of free spirit and our American souls. Read Huck Finn again; after all, as Ernest Hemingway said, all modern American literature comes from that book.
Perhaps we should trade in some of our freedoms for security…? That is what President Obama and his left-wing cohorts are suggesting. They actually believe their own propaganda. Why? Because of their narrow-mindedness, lack of faith and courage. Education? They are reasonably well educated, yes; but: can you teach character? No. Character comes from within. It is courage and determination, responsibility and admission of truth no matter what the consequences. We are Americans, we do not cave in and give up our ground just because someone omnipotent “from above” tells us to.
Trading in any of our freedoms would necessarily mean surrendering our rights with it. There is no absolute safety and there is no absolute freedom, true. My freedom ends where yours begins. But there are also freedoms that we have in common. Those are the freedoms anchored in our Bill of Rights. We must not trade any of them under any pretense, no matter how much good-will or how many “guarantees” are offered to us in exchange.
