March 3, 2019

“Registration and Such”

By Jim Culp

In this time of civil unrest, a big government, and two political parties that are black and white…it is sometimes hard to know what a citizen believes to be true. In this nation we call the United States of America, we are supposed to be governed by the Constitution of the United States of America. It is a document that was in other forms around 1776; and became the Supreme Law of our nation in 1789.

In Amendments to the Constitution, we were given some pretty substantial rights. The first one being the right to free speech, the right not to be governed by religion, the right to free press, and a few others. The second amendment that was drafted gave us the right to keep and bear arms. Here lies my topic of the month. The Second Amendment, to the United States Constitution (adopted December 15, 1791), says this:

“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.”

This amendment to our Constitution was placed in its text for many reasons, but the right of a citizen to arm himself was critical to the colonists. These men and women had survived eight years of war with the British, their former masters. Kings and Queens in that great empire had performed heinous acts of barbarism in the name of religion, marriage, and the divine right of a king to rule. The Constitution’s framers knew this all too well and were not about to have a country’s governing document be made law without it containing this critical guarantee of personal protection. Citizens of the Untied States of America were guaranteed the right to “keep” and “bear” arms. That rule of law meant that a citizen could protect his family and home with lethal force when it was required.

Over the next two hundred and thirty years, that amendment (that was added to our constitution so long ago) has slowly eroded into a document that barely stands its ground these days. The Gun Control Act of 1968 took most military grade weapons and explosives out of the hands of citizens, and there is a fair argument for its validity. But today there are forces that threaten the right of a citizen to own a semi-automatic firearm, and here is where the fight must never be given another inch backwards.

A semi-automatic firearm, whether it be a rifle, shotgun, or handgun, is a homeowner’s guarantee of an adequate ammunition supply in his magazine, and no need to reload during a short firefight that hopefully deters or stops a thug from taking away life, liberty, or property. To deny a person that right is idiocy, and those that want it to become a law have not studied their state’s demographics, nor have they understood what lawless citizens can accomplish when the law-abiding citizenry is not armed.

One last thing. I hear daily of people claiming that they will not register their guns in some defiant act of solidarity or redneck code of conduct. When you purchase a firearm at a store, you complete ATF Form 4473. At that moment, you are entered into a federal database that automatically classifies you as a citizen that owns a firearm. So, when you preach that you are not registering your firearms, I assume that you have obtained them through private sale. This is perfectly legal, but that firearm is still registered somewhere, and it’s not a piece of hardware that transforms you into the Terminator. Use it wisely.

-Jim