“Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will
look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.”
– Mahatma Gandhi, anti-colonial nationalist who used nonviolent
resistance to help gain India's independence from Britain.
Back to the point… The Second Amendment is not about hunting. It’s
about the rights of individual citizens as well as the body politic. Here’s
how Thomas Jefferson put it in a letter to James Madison in 1787:
“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned
from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance.
Let them take arms.”
To show Jefferson was consistent in his thinking later in life, after
serving as governor of Virginia, minster to France, secretary of state,
vice president, and president and here’s what he wrote in a letter two
years before he died:
“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States)
assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise
it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times
armed.”
America’s third president also made it clear when and where he
thought it appropriate to carry a firearm:
“Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.”
Doesn’t sound like he’s talking about hunting, does it?
Which raises the question: How did America become so muddled on
an issue specifically and deliberately written into the Bill of Rights to
gain support for the ratification of the United States Constitution?
Perhaps some context can help clarify the matter.
After winning its independence from England, America crafted
the Articles of Confederation, which were adopted on November
15, 1777, and went into effect March 1, 1781. It did not take long
to find out that a loose confederation built on thirteen individual
foundations was like constructing a house on shifting sands. The
country needed something more substantial and stable, but there
was a problem: Some feared a strong federal government as much
as they had feared King George and his Redcoats.
What to do?
On May 25, 1787 America’s thirteen states sent representatives
to Philadelphia with the stated purpose of trying to fix the
Articles of Confederation. Eventually some delegates concluded
that one degree or another, that they were better off starting
from scratch than trying to fix the un-fixable. Heading this
ambitious task was James Madison of Virginia, Father of the
Constitution, who would go on to become the fourth President of
the United States.
36 The TRUMP RALLY Publication