| Rights and Responsibilities |
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| Written by Daniel White | |
| Tuesday, 18 October 2005 | |
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When it comes to the Second Amendment, the debate rages regarding where the line is drawn to limit your rights. On one hand, you have those that say the constitution is quite clear; shall not be infringed means just that. If I can afford a TOW missile, I should have one. The other extreme contends that the 2nd Amendment applies only to the "militia," and that you have no gun rights. Reality is somewhere in between. The truth is that when it was written, the Second Amendment was intended to guarantee that every free man had the right to obtain any type of arm in existence. Of course, that was before nuclear and biological weapons capable of destroying entire cities. Personally, my beliefs fall closest to those that say if it is the common arm of the foot soldier, law-abiding civilians should have access to it. I would have absolutely no problem if my neighbor had a fully automatic rifle. In fact, I wish he did because maybe he'd let me shoot it! But, I digress. The real subject of this article is not what is covered by the Second Amendment, but what is happening to the Bill of Rights in general. Current events have exposed the general erosion of these rights and portend where we are headed if we do not act on these transgressions. (Click 'READ MORE' to continue...) In order to understand where we are, it is important to understand where we've been. The country was a very different place when the bill of rights was first written. The government was very small, and it was very much of the people, by the people, and for the people. With the revolutionary war and the transgressions of the King of England fresh on their minds, the founders of our country were very wary of trusting anyone to rule over them. Their intent, as written into the Declaration of Independence itself, was to create a government that was subservient to the people, ...governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed... they wrote. The idea behind the first amendment was to be sure that the views of the people could not be silenced by the government. The second amendment was there to back up the first, and all others that followed. The government existed at the whim of the people, not the other way around. A lot has changed in 200 years. But some things have not. The rights enumerated by the constitution do not come from man, nor from any document. They are inalienable rights that are endowed by the Creator. The government, now, is a lot bigger and more powerful than it ever was. But, it is still bound by the same principles as it was when it was created. But those bonds are only as strong as our will to enforce them. The actions of certain public officials after hurricane Katrina showed us that those bonds have weakened to the point where they are in danger of breaking. Law enforcement officials and a federal agency conspired to deny arms to law abiding citizens. This weekend, another disturbing abuse occurred when the Mayor of Toledo, in the wake of apparent race riots, lamented the fact that the First Amendment prevented him from denying the neo-nazis (wrong as they are) from demonstrating and expressing their position. No rights are absolute. You hear that argument repeatedly from the anti-gun crowd. They try to justify denying you your right to carry a firearm for personal protection by noting that you can't yell 'fire' in a crowded movie theater. What they are missing is that all rights are accompanied by responsibilities. We are bound to exerise our rights responsibly, and be prepared to accept the consequences of misuse of these rights. You can yell 'fire' all you want in a theater. If nobody pays you any mind, nothing is going to happen to you. If, on the other hand, your irresponsible use of the right to free speech leads to a panicked stampede, you are going to face the consequences for the results of your actions. It is the result, not the act, that is punishable, The severely misguided neo-nazis had every right to demonstrate. And they would be responsible for the rioting if they directly incited the violence. Simply speaking their message isn't enough. In this case, the rioters were at fault and should pay dearly for their crimes. Similarly, no law-abiding person should be denied their right to own any firearm, including fully automatic rifles and pistols. However, if you misuse that right and harm others, you will be removed from society. We have to get back to a government that understands that it exists because we say it does. That our rights are not obstacles to its functioning, and they are not negotiable. And we need to get back to a society where people shoulder the responsibility that comes with their rights; and are punished not for exercising those rights, but only for misusing them. |