The American Spectator

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(Page 5 of 16)

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Original intent: Since Madison and Hamilton actually penned the document, what did they have to say about firearm ownership?

Hamilton, in a portion of one of his run-on sentences: "If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all forms of self-defense..."

To which Madison seconded, "The advantage of being armed, which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...form a barrier against the enterprises of ambition."

Jefferson piled on, "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves from tyranny in government."

The Founders without exception knew the opinions of Burke very well. "To secure any degree of sobriety in the propositions made by the leaders in any public assembly, they ought to respect, in some degree perhaps to fear, those whom they conduct."

The Left hates the true understanding of the 2nd amendment because they see themselves as absolute rulers, and an armed citizenry as a threat. It is.

It was Madison himself who appointed Joseph Story to the Supreme Court, and this is a man who also is very clear. "The right of the citizen to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the paladin of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpations and arbitrary powers of the rulers; and will generally, even if they are not successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."

Neither did the Founders ignore smaller concerns. John Adams, "Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion...in private self-defense."

Samuel Adams, "The Constitution shall never be construed...to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." The chains of the Left do not quite yet sit so lightly on us.

Lastly, for those who grasp at commas to re-interpret the Constitution:

From this single sentence of Hamilton, he of the offending comma, do tell us how many of these nine commas you would keep in your own contemporary correspondence. "Let us recollect, that peace or war, will not always be left to our options...to judge from the history of mankind, we shall be compelled to conclude, that the fiery and destructive passions of war, reign in the human breast, with much more powerful sway, than the mild and beneficent sentiments of peace; and, that to model our political systems upon speculations of lasting tranquility, is to calculate on the weaker springs of human character."

p>We will keep the comma and our guns so that others may find their sobriety, respect, and fear. We already have those things. br> -- James Wilson

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