HessForGovernor Second Amendment Position Paper

The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment was made the second amendment for a reason. It is not only the bulwark against tyranny and despotism, but also a means of protecting all of our other rights. It would seem the wisdom of our founding fathers was sound. They made it second, in case the first amendment didn’t get the job done.

Some people have been trained to fear firearms, and that’s okay. Those people cannot be required to identify themselves as ‘unarmed’. The facts are in, when the average Citizen is armed, crime drops dramatically and governments are kept in check. When the criminals can’t determine who is and who is not armed, they have a strong tendency to seek out new venues or new vocations. It would appear that those of a criminal or destructive bent do not bother to read or heed the law, but they are cowards on the whole.

Read the facts, not the hype. For the most comprehensive study, with the most extensive fail safes and model differentials to date, please refer to: More Guns, Less Crime, by John Lott, jr.

For a clear working model we need only look to the example that continues to be set by Switzerland. Without personal protection as guaranteed by the second amendment each of us faces the same fate as the people of Kosovo. It’s worth your time to consider that when firearms are restricted, as in Australia and Great Britain, violent crime increases exponentially.

If the objective is to lessen violence, from its’ present level, and the proven way to do that, right now, is to allow every responsible Citizen the unabridged right to choose for themselves, without license and without restriction**, what seems to be the difficulty? Why is it so necessary to disarm responsible Citizens?

At the end of the day, none of the above really matters in terms of the reasoning. The Constitution for the united States is the Supreme Law of this land. It enunciates the Law itself. It is the ‘rule book’ on how to run our government. If we violate that rule, are there any others you prefer to ignore? Why have rules at all if you are just going to break them?

The rules say that as long as the Second Amendment is a part of our Constitution, any government attempt to usurp authority to ‘override’ the Constitution cannot impose a burden on any Citizen. And logically in line are those unalienable, natural rights bestowed by the creator, inherent birthrights of all men. These rights are the ‘Absolute’ rights of every individual to be left alone, to derive sustenance unencumbered, and to protect, by any means, his family and their property.

See the actual results of kids and violence available through the National Libertarian Party (www.lp.org).

**Except in very specific areas involving National Security, military bases and the protection of Federal Officials.

Libertarians, like other Americans, want to be able to walk city streets safely and be secure in their homes. We also want our Constitutional rights protected, to guard against the erosion of our civil liberties. In particular, Libertarians want to see all people treated equally under the law, as our Constitution requires. America's millions of gun owners are people too.

Law-abiding, responsible citizens do not and should not need to ask anyone's permission or approval to engage in a peaceful activity. Gun ownership, by itself, harms no other person and cannot morally justify criminal penalties.

Constitutional Rights

America's founders fought the Revolutionary War to throw off British tyranny. Most of the revolutionaries owned and used their own guns in that war. After the war, in 1789, the 13 American States adopted the Constitution, creating the federal government. Before ratifying the Constitution, the Libertarians demanded a Bill of Rights to prevent our government from depriving them of their liberties as the British had done.

One of the most important protections we have against government tyranny is that we are presumed innocent of any crime until proven guilty, before a jury, in a proper trial.

But, gun control/restriction/infringing advocates would declare all gun owners guilty without trial, simply for owning guns although hundreds of millions of Americans have never used their guns to harm another person nor do they seek to do so. Such blanket condemnation is immoral, unfair and contrary to the principles on which America was founded.

The Prohibition Lesson

Gun control advocates are much like the prohibitionists of the early 20th Century. By making liquor illegal, they spawned organized crime, caused bloody, violent turf wars and corrupted the criminal justice system. Today's war on drugs has exactly the same results.

Prohibition didn't stop liquor use; the drug laws can't stop drug use. Making gun ownership illegal will not stop gun ownership.

The primary victim of these misguided efforts is the honest citizen whose civil rights are trampled as frustrated legislators and police tighten the screws and blatantly ignore a constitutionally enumerated specific Right.

Banning guns will make guns more expensive and give organized crime a great opportunity to make profits in a new black market for weapons. Street violence will increase in new turf wars. Criminals will not give up their guns but many law-abiding citizens will, leaving them defenseless against armed bandits. At the same time, the People will find themselves at the mercy of the criminal element within our own government—the very ones with whom our founding fathers were rightfully more concerned.

The Right of Self Defense

Libertarians agree with the majority of Americans who believe they have the right to decide how best to protect themselves, their families and their property. Millions of Americans have guns in their homes and sleep more comfortably because of it. Studies show that where gun ownership is illegal, residential burglaries are higher. A man with a gun in his home is no threat to you if you aren't breaking into it. The police do not provide security in your home, your business or the street. They show up after the crime to take reports and do detective work. The poorer the neighborhood, the riskier it is for peaceful residents.

Only an armed citizenry can be present in sufficient numbers to prevent or deter violent crime before it starts, to reduce its spread and to provide a constant reminder to government officials that in this country, the people own their government.

Interviews with convicted felons indicate that fear of the armed citizen significantly deters crime. A criminal is more likely to be driven off from a particular crime by an armed victim than to be convicted and imprisoned for it. Thus, widespread gun ownership will make neighborhoods safer.

Foolish politicians and police unions now seek to ban semi-automatic "assault rifles". They ignore the fact that only honest citizens will comply; criminals will still have them. Such a ban will only increase the criminals' ability to victimize the innocent.

Most “normal” people would have to agree that ‘any’ time someone aims a firearm, no matter how small its caliber, is in fact an assault weapon. To try to separate a specific style or “class” of firearm is a fool’s errand—that’s why no one, even those who advocate personal disarmament, can or has been able to clearly define what they mean the mis-leading term, “assault weapon”.

Personal Responsibility

Guns are not the problem. They are inanimate objects. Gun control advocates talk as if guns could act on their own, as if human beings cannot control them, so the ‘uncontrollable’ guns must be banished. One would hope the People of Arizona, with its full history of political corruption, are not that stupid.

Let us put the responsibility where it belongs, on the owner and user of the gun. If he or she acts responsibly, without attacking others or causing injury negligently, no crime or harm has been done. Leave them in peace. But, if a person commits a crime with a gun, then impose the severest penalties for the injuries done to the victim. Similarly, hold the negligent gun user fully liable for all harm his/her negligence does to others.

Rather than banning guns, the politicians and the police should encourage gun ownership, as well as education and training programs. A responsible, well-armed and trained citizenry is the best protection against domestic crime and the threat of foreign invasion. America's founders knew that. It is still true today.