The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Updated: Dec 20, 2021
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Why do we need firearms? Our Founding Fathers believed that The People of our country needed to be protected from their government. These truths were just as accurate when the Constitution and Bill of Rights were ratified, as they are today. Weapons in the hands of the people have always made it more difficult for tyrants and governments to make victims of their own citizens.
England’s King George attempted to confiscate guns in the colonies before the Revolutionary War. If the people at the time of our Revolution were not armed, they could not have stood up to the British Crown to win our independence. This failed attempt at gun control ultimately resulted in the Second Amendment being adopted in the United States.
History confirms that when governments take guns away from the people, murder, tyranny and/or oppressive governments result. Here are some examples:
At the massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota on December 29, 1890, the U.S. 7th Cavalry confiscated the firearms from a group of Lakota Sioux at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, “For their own safety and protection.” The Sioux peacefully turned in their weapons, and the Cavalry began shooting. 297 native Americans (200 of which were women and children) were murdered.
In 1911 - Ottoman Empire, Turkish citizens were disarmed, and 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by their government in what is known as the Armenian Genocide;
In 1929 - Soviet Union - private gun ownership was abolished under Stalin, citizens were disarmed, and 20 million Russians were murdered by their own leaders;
In 1931, the Weimar Republic in Germany, threatened by the Nazis, authorized the registration of all firearms . . . for “public safety.” Then, in 1933, Hitler seized power and used these same gun registration records to identify, disarm and attack political opponents and Jews. In the 1940’s tyranny took hold of Germany, as millions of people were deported on trains to places like Auschwitz. People who should have resisted were unable to do so, because they had been disarmed. As a result, 6 million Jews and a total of 13 million people were murdered;
In 1935 – China - Citizens were disarmed under Mao, and 20 million Chinese were killed;
In 1964 – Guatemala – During a civil war, citizens were disarmed and 100,000 Mayan Indians were massacred;
1970: Uganda’s first prime minister passed laws to disarm Ugandan citizens, and 300,000 Christians were put to death.
From 1975-1978 – Cambodia - Citizens were disarmed by Pol Pot, and between 1.8 to 2 million “intellectuals” were murdered;
In 1905, George Santayana wrote in, the Life of Reason, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We cannot forget, lest we become victims of our own passivity.
“The most important reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, if necessary, at last resort to protect themselves from tyranny in government.” Thomas Jefferson