FAQs - Support Our Second Amendment

IS THE SECOND AMENDMENT AN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT?

The only reason there is a controversy about the Second Amendment is that on this subject many highly vocal and influential 21st Century Americans reject what seemed elementary common sense–and basic principle–to our Founding Fathers. The words of the founders make clear they believed the individual right to own firearms was very important:
Thomas Jefferson said, “No free man shall be debarred the use of arms.”

Patrick Henry said, “The great object is, that every man be armed.”

Richard Henry Lee wrote that, “to preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms.”

Thomas Paine noted, “[A]rms . . . discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property.”

Samuel Adams warned that: “The said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.”

The Constitution and Bill of Rights repeatedly refer to the “rights” of the people and to the “powers” of government. The Supreme Court has recognized that the phrase “the people,” which is used in numerous parts of the Constitution, including the Preamble, the Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments, refers to people as individuals. In each case, rights belonging to “the people” are without question the rights of individuals.

Dozens of essays have been written by the nation`s foremost authorities on the Constitution, supporting the traditional understanding of the right to arms as an individual right, protected by the Second Amendment.

WHY SHOULD ANYONE OWN A DEFENSE WEAPON?

Why does anyone need a defense weapon? Why does anyone need a handgun? Why does anyone need a semi-auto shotgun? The real question we should be asking is, “Why does government need to restrict this right for law-abiding citizens?” In a free society the government has to prove it needs to restrict the basic rights of the people. The government that can restrict a right based on “need” can restrict any right. That is not a free society.

Banning guns because some criminals use them tells all honest citizens that their rights and liberties depend not on their own conduct but on the behavior of the lawless. It tells the law-abiding that they have only such rights and liberties, as criminals will allow.

Following are some comments Thomas Jefferson wrote in a few letters on The Right To Bear Arms

“The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that . . . it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”

— Letter to John Cartwright, 1824. (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Memorial Edition (ME), Lipscomb and Bergh, editors, 20 Vols., Washington, D.C., 1903-04, 16:45.

“One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them.”

— Letter to George Washington, 1796. ME 9:341

DO CRIME RATES REALLY FALL AFTER GUN LAWS ARE PASSED?

The clear answer is no. Gun control has been tested, and it has always failed the test.

The British experience with gun bans is a perfect example. Over the past 20 years, Great Britain has banned handguns and many long guns. During that same period violent crime has increased dramatically. One significant area where crime has risen sharply in England is home burglaries where the occupants are present. Since they know the residents will not be armed, thieves more openly enter even occupied homes, often during daylight hours. This has resulted in more violence against victims who try to defend their homes.

In general, the crime rates of Canada, Britain, and Australia, all of which have implemented strict gun control laws, have risen significantly after the passage of these laws. At the same time, the U.S. has seen a significant drop in violent crime rates.

The important truth is: criminals do not want to attack armed citizens. The only real impact of a handgun ban is to insure that law-abiding citizens are disarmed, leaving them more at the mercy of illegally armed criminals. Cities such as Washington D.C. and Chicago have banned handguns, and violent crime has not been eliminated, or even reduced.

The evidence shows that firearm ownership, including handguns, does not lead to increased crime rates, and gun bans do not deter criminals from committing violent crimes. In fact, ownership of firearms deters crime.

WHY DON’T THE COURTS OR CONGRESS DEAL WITH THE 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHT DEBATE?

Four times in American history, Congress has enacted legislation declaring its clear understanding of the Second Amendment`s meaning. Congress has never given any support for the newly minted argument that the amendment fails to protect any right of the people, and instead ensures a “collective right” of states to maintain militias. In 1866, 1941, 1986, and 2005, Congress passed laws to reaffirm this guarantee of personal freedom and to adopt specific safeguards to enforce it.

The Freedmen’s Bureau Act of 1866 was enacted to protect the rights of freed slaves to keep and bear arms following the Civil War and at the outset of the chaotic Reconstruction period. The act declared protection for the “full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings concerning personal liberty, personal security, and . . . estate . . . including the constitutional right to bear arms. . . .”

The Property Requisition Act of 1941 was intended to reassure Americans that preparations for war would not include repressive or tyrannical policies against firearms owners. It was passed shortly before the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, which led the United States into World War II. The act declared that it would not “authorize the requisitioning or require the registration of any firearms possessed by any individual for his personal protection or sport,” or “to impair or infringe in any manner the right of any individual to keep and bear arms. . . .”

The two more recent laws sought to reverse excesses involving America’s legal system. In the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986, Congress reacted to overzealous enforcement policies under the federal firearms law: “The Congress finds that the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms under the second amendment to the United States Constitution; to security against illegal and unreasonable searches and seizures under the fourth amendment; against uncompensated taking of property, double jeopardy, and assurance of due process of law under the fifth amendment; and against unconstitutional exercise of authority under the ninth and tenth amendments; require additional legislation to correct existing firearms statutes and enforcement policies. . . .”

And in 2005, as a result of lawsuits aiming to destroy America’s firearms industry, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to end this threat to the Second Amendment. The act begins with findings that go to the heart of the matter: “Congress finds the following: (1) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. (2) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights of individuals, including those who are not members of a militia or engaged in military service or training, to keep and bear arms.”

So, how long and how many times do we have to keep debating and dealing with this issue of the 2nd Amendment? As long as it takes!!!!

SO, HOW ARE GUNS USED TO STOP A CRIME?

Incidents in which firearms are misused, whether accidentally or by criminals, “make the news.” Cases of people who have escaped harm because they had access to firearms are not so easy to record. Any ban on firearms is unlikely to prevent criminals from getting them. Even in places where firearms, particularly handguns, are banned–both here in the United States and internationally–criminals continue to get and misuse guns in crimes. The most direct impact of gun bans has been to disarm law-abiding people.

Professor Gary Kleck of Florida State University has provided the best answer to this. An award-winning expert on crime, Prof. Kleck has conducted extensive survey research to measure firearms ownership and use in America. He found that firearms were used as often as 2.5 million times a year for protection–three to five times more often, he says, than they are used for criminal purposes. In the vast majority of these protective cases, the gun is not fired.

ISN’T PROTECTING GUNS FOR HUNTING THE REASON FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT?

Hunting is an important American tradition and is the most effective wildlife management tool available. Firearms ownership is critical if hunting is to continue. So the fight to protect Second Amendment rights has the benefit of protecting this American sporting tradition.

The Second Amendment is not about hunting at all. The Second Amendment is about protecting the right of a free people to defend that freedom and to protect their families and communities from threats. The Founders, who all considered themselves English citizens, had seen the British army disarm the public. They believed this was an improper use of government power. In writing the Constitution, they included the Second Amendment to prohibit the American government from doing what the British had done

WHY DO GUN OWNERS THINK THEY HAVE A “RIGHT” TO OWN A GUN MUCH LESS CARRY IT?

In the United States, we are privileged to have the “Constitution” that guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. Self-defense is a natural right. Everyone knows innately that when they are attacked, they are right to use violence to protect themselves. In an age where attackers use firearms, effective defence requires the use of firearms. Therefore, the right to self-defense establishes and requires the right to own firearms. Those who allow that right to be taken away are uninformed citizens. To think an attacker will respect in any way someone who does not believe in gun ownership is most likely living in denial.

WHY SHOULD ANYONE OWN AN ASSAULT WEAPON?

Why does anyone need an assault weapon? Why does anyone need a handgun? Why does anyone need a semi-auto shotgun? The real question we should be asking is, “Why does government need to restrict this right for law-abiding citizens?” In a free society the government has to prove it needs to restrict the basic rights of the people. The government that can restrict a right based on “need” can restrict any right. That is not a free society.