There are two basic ways to destroy and remove a ten story building: From the top down … or from the bottom up. By blowing up the foundation, the entire building can be brought to earth in a huge heap. It’s a chaotic event, and leaves a grotesque pile of twisted rubble to clean up. But it works. Think of our Bill of Rights as a ten story building. Understand that the Second Amendment is the foundation of that building.
A more meticulous and discreet destruction technique is a careful and methodical dismantling. Start at the top and work your way down, shipping off the wreckage in a more organized manner as it is brought, load by load, to ground level.
Dismantling is far tidier than demolition. It is also far less dramatic. You can gut the interior of each floor and, from the outside, it may actually look like nothing is happening.
Many gun owners have been diverted (albeit justifiably) by the incredible gall and arrogance of the gun prohibitionists over the last few decades. But we must not let ourselves be distracted to the point that we embrace solely the Second Amendment (“The Guardian”). Embrace it we must, with an iron willed and fierce determination, however, JPFO has always asked Americans to remember the full scope and breadth of freedom’s guardianship. Every facet of the Bill of Rights is under steady attack. This is not a single issue battle we are fighting. If it were only so simple.
To return America to a Bill of Rights culture, and to its rightful place as a beacon of liberty, we must first halt, and then reverse, present trends. So let’s get a closer look at the present dismantling of that “Freedom Shelter” we call our Bill of Rights.
Had our forbearers known where we would be today, they might have mended the breaches as they first occurred. But, for many reasons, this did not happen. Sadly, the task of reversal and restoration lies at the feet of this generation. It will all be decided, for better or worse, over the next dozen years. This is a somber realization, but who among you would attempt to deny it?
THE OTHER AMENDMENTS
Civil Libertarians usually have a “pet” Amendment (or portion thereof) that they tend to champion. Is freedom of religion more important than freedom of speech? Is protection against unreasonable search and seizure more important than not being forced to testify against one’s self? Is freedom of the press more important than the right to peaceably assemble? Advocates of each perspective on these issues make logical and persuasive presentations.
But there is one inarguable hierarchy present in the construction of our Bill of Rights.
No matter how you look at it, the Second Amendment is the most important of our personal rights. It cannot be said too often: 2A, the mandate for a widely armed citizenry, is the very foundation, the final protector, of every other right that Americans must incessantly defend. We must guard “The Guardian”.
Slaves cannot own guns. A disarmed citizenry is, by its very definition, a populace of potential slaves. Why can’t people comprehend this? Seriously, what part of this don’t they understand?
The English are slaves. The French are slaves. The Japanese, Germans, Australians, New Zealanders, and Spanish are all functionally slaves to their governments. Get this, and get it clearly: the slave masters have simply not yet chosen to crack the whip across the backs of their unarmed subjects. But history teaches us: That time always comes.
Why? Because all that stands between the unarmed citizens of any of these nations and tyranny is the fickle good will of the politicians and military leaders in power.
Political honesty and morality are ominously tenuous matters. To my knowledge, only the Swiss and Americans retain the right to a level of personal firepower that would pose a serious impediment to a police state takeover. Every other nation that embraces Western values floats on the airy promises and the amorphous mood of its political and military upper crust.
It is a valuable exploration to analyze how the right to keep and bear arms is deeply intertwined with our other fundamental rights. It is all connected. Each protects the other. And one cannot dismiss this to coincidence. The Founders knew what they were doing.
