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All the articles in this series may be found by entering “guns and liberty, 2023” into the SMM home page search bar.  Having had time to think about the last article in this series, perhaps readers are asking why it’s necessary to discuss political philosophy?  Isn’t this, after all, a series of articles about guns and the Second Amendment?

Gun ownership and bearing is an express–-not an implied–-unalienable right acknowledged–-not granted–-by the Constitution. It is not lurking in an emanation of a penumbra, discoverable only by the Supreme Court and law professors.  It’s there, in plain English, in fading black ink on yellowing parchment.

There is perhaps no exercise of a fundamental, unalienable right more likely to bring citizens into direct–-even deadly–-confrontation with government. Prior to the Biden Meat Puppet Administration, Americans could exercise the right to freedom of speech and generally expect nothing worse than an IRS audit, but anyone accidentally carrying a lawfully possessed concealed handgun into a prohibited zone–-or not–-may find themselves fined and imprisoned, their Second Amendment right permanently infringed, their property confiscated, their lives hampered, even ruined.

As in the case of Erik Scott, they may even be killed.  Gun owners that do not understand the dynamics of modern American political philosophy are, in a very real sense, as unarmed as those without firearms.

Article 5 of this series ended with a general discussion of the Democrat/Socialist/Communist tendency to favor, even praise, criminals and terrorists. Circa January 2023, they remain hell bent on defining anyone that opposes their political positions as criminals, “insurrectionists” or  “domestic terrorists.”  Their virulent hatred for half or more of the American public is beyond alarming.  Additional obvious evidence of this can be seen in the D/S/C Party’s betrayal of Jews and their support of Palestinian terrorists that refuse to renounce their founding documents calling for the destruction of Israel–our ally–-and the murder of all Jews. It can also be seen in their unremitting hatred toward Israel and the embrace of her most vicious enemy—Iran.

Also alarming are the more recent efforts of D/S/C-blue—cities and states to decriminalize crime. Illinois, for example, no longer allows the police to detain criminals for crimes such as aggravated battery, arson, burglary, kidnapping, robbery, even second-degree murder! Illinois police are also not allowed to remove trespassers from the property of others. Should a property owner take matters into their own hands, they would surely be arrested for assault. Even when legislatures don’t go completely crazy, big city prosecutors, such as Alvin Bragg in New York City, legislate by refusing to prosecute.  Many blue cities and states have all but eliminated cash bail.

D/S/Cs also tend to distrust and hate our armed forces and Intelligence agencies, though they have come to embrace the latter after weaponizing them against internal political enemies during the Obama years and thereafter.  They are always on the lookout for ways to diminish the size, power and effectiveness of our military, and American presidents such as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have done their part.  In fact, the damage done to our military establishment and intelligence apparatus by Mr. Carter and Mr. Clinton—who adopted insanely restrictive policies that all but eliminated our human intelligence assets around the world—were a proximate cause of 9-11.  Mr. Obama, true to form, enacted his own military downsizing at a particularly dangerous time in history when our most dedicated long-term enemies, particularly China, were–and are–working very hard to increase their military capabilities and the lethality of their weaponry.  His most destructive efforts were focused on ridding the higher ranks of war fighters and replacing them with social justice warriors, a plot furthered by Joe Biden. While Biden has not directly cut military spending, he has turned our military into a blatant and vast social experimentation laboratory, badly damaging morale, recruiting, retention and readiness.

Circa 2023, D/S/Cs in congress and the White House, are again pushing anti liberty/gun measures that if enacted, would have no effect whatever on actual criminals and terrorists. They no longer bother trying to hide their real intentions, and continue to try to pack the Supreme Court–-which they wish to make a super D/S/C legislature–-with additional Leftist justices to obtain through an entirely politicized judiciary what they cannot obtain through the legislative process: unconstitutional ant-liberty/gun measures.  Fortunately Republicans control the House—barely–and a few Congressional Democrats willing to uphold their oaths of office to preserve the Constitution yet exist, or at least still fear the voters.  Of course, if D/S/Cs, through vote fraud and other means, eliminate any possibility of Republicans or anyone else ever being elected in the future, all bets are off for the preservation of liberty.

Normal American (Some, perhaps most, Conservatives) Philosophy:

It’s important to understand that the 2016 election of Donald Trump caused a substantial split in the ranks of what used to be called Conservatism.  It may be useful to consider what used to be understood as Conservatism was the belief of normal Americans in American Constitutionalism, the rule of law, and limited–-only that absolutely necessary–-government.  A “Never Trump” branch is as much a part of Government Inc., the Uniparty and/or The Deep State as the most ardent D/S/C.  With Donald Trump out of office, many Deep State Republicans seek to move the Party as far away from his ideals as possible.  Should they succeed, all bets are off for the preservation of liberty.  Normal Americans accept no political cults of personality; they rely instead on the political philosophies of the Founders, which Trump largely embraced. They also appreciate anyone who fights for those principles, which Trump largely did.

Normal Americans, above all, support equality of opportunity, and individual responsibility. The two go hand in hand.  They believe everyone must have the unrestrained opportunity to succeed or fail on their own initiative, but they do not believe everyone is owed a living, or anything else they have not earned.  Individuals should be responsible for their success or failure, and it is government’s role only to ensure free and equal opportunity, which is accomplished by the application of equal justice under the rule of law.

Normal Americans do not believe in abolishing public assistance for those truly in need, but they do not believe such assistance is a right, a never-ending entitlement, or a substitute for individual responsibility and work.  They also believe it must be reserved only for American citizens.

Normal Americans believe in small government with strictly limited powers–-those enumerated in the Constitution–-which exist to do only what the people cannot do individually, such as maintain the military and intelligence agencies, build interstate highways and similar functions.  As a result, Normal Americans believe in frugal government spending and low taxes.  They see every man’s wages and other assets as his property to do with as he likes, and believe in contributing only that amount necessary for a small government to properly function. This is why they reasonably see 87,000 new IRS agents as alarming.  They believe no one is more qualified and capable to determine the needs of his family than the individual American.

For normal Americans, the definition of “fairness” does not change to fit transient political whims.  It means the equal protection and application of the law, not “equity,’ which is racist discrimination and redistribution of wealth and privileges, mostly from the non-wealthy.  They believe that no law should be written unless it is necessary and easily understandable. There can be no law written to “make a statement.” They believe the law should be equally enforced—all laws.  The supreme law of the land is the Constitution, which is clear and understandable, and which must be honored in spirit and fact.  To that end, the rights of the individual are the basis of the American Republic—we are not a democracy-–and must be respected. Normal Americans believe the rights recognized in the Bill of Rights are clear, easy to understand and must not be infringed.

Normal Americans have no doubt about the existence of evil and of the necessity of combating and defeating it wherever it appears.  They tend to be people of faith and are generally accepting of other faiths.  They believe mankind cannot possibly be perfected on Earth, and support rational laws that apply to all to regulate criminal behavior.

Because they believe in equal application of the law, Normal Americans support laws that prevent election fraud, such as requiring photographic ID, limiting verifiable mail-in ballots only to those that have demonstrated need and that specifically request them, no ballot harvesting and the required purging of dead and ineligible voters from registration rolls, which is actually federal law.  They see no reason why most people can’t vote on election day, and why the results can’t be known within a few hours of the closing of polls. They do not want illegal immigrants, the dead, and felons voting, and consider this stance logical and unremarkable.  The Supreme Court agrees, and in 2008, upheld Indiana’s voter ID law.  And in 2018, a federal appeals court upheld a Texas voter ID law.   Sadly, in 2020, Virtually every court, including the Supreme Court, refused to so much as hear compelling evidence of vote fraud that arguably stole the presidential election, and Congressional D/S/C’s attempt to enshrine that fraud in federal law was only narrowly defeated in Congress in January, 2022. There is considerable evidence of vote fraud in the 2022 midterms as well.

credit: cnn.com

Normal Americans do not support criminals and terrorists. They see such people as uniquely destructive, not only to individuals, but to society and western civilization, and believe they are individually responsible for their actions.  They do not see Normal Americans exercising their fundamental liberties as “domestic terrorists.”  They certainly do not defend or praise actual criminals and terrorists and reject victim/identity politics and wokeness in all its forms.

Normal Americans generally support and respect the police, the military and our intelligence agencies.  They see them as honorable and essential parts of a free society and forces for stability, peace and good in America and the world, but only so long as they are truly accountable to, and servants of, the American people. They’re willing to extend them the benefit of the doubt, as long as they deserve it.

Normal Americans support the Second Amendment because they understand it to be the ultimate guarantor of liberty.  They tend to be comfortable with honest, law-abiding citizens keeping and bearing arms, and in recent years, unprecedented numbers—including women and D/S/Cs– have joined those ranks.  They also have a healthy skepticism of government, particularly one that tries to assume more power than is granted it by the Constitution.

Racism and Gun Control:

Keeping this brief, general primer in mind, let’s touch on one of the fundamental motivations for American gun controllers: racism.  The racist roots of gun control in America are well known to those familiar with non-revisionist history.  As I mentioned in part one of this article, an excellent, accurate and brief overview can be had in historian Clayton Cramer’s The Racist Roots of Gun Control.  

It should also be kept in mind that the D/S/C party has historically been the party of racism.  The politicians–-local, state and Congressional–-that defended segregation and opposed civil rights legislation were virtually exclusively Democrats.  These were the people that loosed fire hoses and police dogs on innocent Black men, women and children, the people that bombed a Black church, murdering little girls, the people and party of the Ku Klux Klan and lynching.  The urge to control their fellow man, particularly through gun control, runs deep in the D/S/C party, and has always been a fundamental tenet of leftist philosophy.

Since 2020, more Black Americans than ever before are voting for liberty, and they comprise a large portion of a record number of Americans becoming first-time gun owners, yet Blacks continue to tend to vote for D/S/Cs by narrowing margins despite the undeniable history of D/S/C oppression of Blacks, and the near complete failure of D/S/Cs to deliver on their promises.  Yet, because Democrats have provided the entitlements upon which generations of Blacks have come to depend, many Blacks generally support those that promise to maintain their entitlements.  This is, slowly, changing with the“Walk Away” movement by Blacks–-and other former Democrats–-encouraging them to leave the party that has produced nothing for them but dependency.  Circa 2023, Big Tech blatantly continues to suppress the social media prospects of the Walk Away movement, and of anyone that does not spout D/S/C approved speech.  President Trump’s economic policies substantially improved the prospects of Black Americans, so D/S/Cs are feverishly working to get them back on the reservation.

Robert Byrd
credit: realtimepolics

Senator Robert Byrd (D, WVA), was a quintessential southern Democrat.  Until his death on June 28, 2010, Byrd was the longest serving member of Congress, having served six years as a Congressman and 51 years in the Senate.  Yet, Byrd was the founder of a large chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in West Virginia, vigorously opposed the Civil Rights Act, filibustering against it for an entire night in 1964, and often made racially charged comments that would have immediately ended the legislative career of any Republican.  Because he eventually called his dedicated involvement in the Klan “a sad mistake,” and because he was a reliable D/S/C vote, his past was ignored by his fellow D/S/Cs and the Media, their propaganda arm.  The fact that he sent enormous amounts of pork to West Virginia was, no doubt, also worthy of significant forgiveness for past sins.

Circa 2023, the surest way to be called a racist is to oppose any D/S/C policy, or openly advocate for constitutional liberty. Fortunately, cries of racism have been so over-used, the epithet has lost much of its effectiveness.

What does all of this have to do with gun ownership? It is only because of the foresight of the Founders in writing the Second Amendment—which is echoed in at least 44 state constitutions—that contemporary Americans have the use of arms.  On November 8, 2022, Iowa became the 45th state with a KABA constitutional provision. 

California, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York have no such protection for their citizens. Unsurprising, considering the rule of D/S/Cs in those states.  The NRA and other supporters of the Second Amendment have been invaluable resources in education and leading the political fight, not only to inform the public, but to secure the Second Amendment through legislation and the courts.

Despite the District of Columbia v. Heller case (2008), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment is a fundamental individual right, the McDonald v. City of Chicago case (2010), which applied the Second Amendment to the states, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which clarified the right to bear arms outside the home, and established strict scrutiny as the standard for deciding Second Amendment cases, many states and cities, almost exclusively those controlled by D/S/Cs, continue to do all they can to harass, even imprison, gun owners. They continue to keep plainly unconstitutional laws on the books, and impose new ones–-inviting lawsuits—wasting years, lives and millions of taxpayer dollars—rather than comply with the Constitution.  Gun ownership remains all but impossible, or so tightly regulated as to be nearly impossible in California (which continues to discover new gun control measures), Chicago, New York state, New York City, the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Connecticut and other D/S/C strongholds.  It is no coincidence these places also have very high crime rates. Criminals don’t obey any law, is a concept foreign to D/S/Cs.

A popular axiom is: “A Republican is a Democrat who has been mugged.”  Sadly, the 2020 summer of riots, looting and murder–the “summer of love”–proved that truism no longer widely applicable.  Far too many D/S/C rulers of those cities significantly destroyed by rioters they encouraged and aided have learned nothing and have no intention of changing.

State and federal D/S/C politicians are constantly proposing restrictive, unconstitutional laws they know they cannot pass, but they never miss an opportunity to exploit a tragedy, or sensational crimes such as the ambush of two NYC police officers, in the name of gun control in the hope the public will ignore rational thought and respond emotionally.

Political Realities:

With Joe Biden acting as a meat puppet for his D/S/C handlers until Kamala Harris—or someone else–can be installed, the Second Amendment is in peril, perhaps even more so than during the Obama years.  Americans are responding by cleaning out the inventory of gun stores. While the national supply of guns and ammunition is far better than it was only a few years ago, and prices have come down, inflation does not leave the right to keep and bear arms untouched.  Thomas Jefferson was right in saying the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Remember the basic facts of D/S/C vs. normal American philosophy, and remember the forces that oppose liberty never rest, and always wait their chance.  They continue to seize on the minor riot on January 6, 2021 to push all manner of usurpations of liberty.  We’ve only seen the tip of that iceberg.

Final Thoughts:

It’s not always possible to take people at their word—Justices Kagan and Sotomayor who swore to uphold the Second Amendment during their confirmation hearings, yet voted against it at the first and every opportunity, being obvious cases in point, but sometimes it’s vital we do. When Hillary Clinton, one of history’s most notorious and noxious liars promised to work every day to damage and destroy the Second Amendment, normal Americans knew that was one Clinton promise upon which they could depend.  They also believe Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and many D/S/C senators and representatives when they promise to destroy liberty.  Senator Hubert Humphrey, one of the most famous figures in D/S/C history, said: https://libquotes.com/hubert-humphrey/quote/lbn0b9v

Hubert Humphrey
credit: wikipedia.org

Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms. . . . The right of the citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against tyranny, which now appears remote in America, that historically has proven to be always possible.

It would be wise indeed to listen to the late Senator Humphrey, even if it’s nearly impossible to imagine a contemporary D/S/C saying anything remotely similar.  We ignore the intentions of D/S/Cs at the risk of all our liberties.  Even if, after reading and considering this series, you choose not to own a firearm, would not America be better off if Americans continue to have that choice? If you did not before, now you know who wants you to have it and who does not.

The next article in this series, explores the practical, moral and legal issues gun owners must consider.  It also speaks to the changes in lifestyle that carrying a concealed weapon must, of necessity, impose. I hope to see you again next Tuesday.