Samuel Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, stated that the right to keep and bear arms was necessary to defend oneself and one’s property. President John Adams, a signer of the Declaration and The Bill of Rights, asserted, “Resistance to sudden violence for the preservation not only of my person, my limbs, and life, but of my property, is an indisputable right of nature which I never surrendered to the public by the compact of society [i.e. the Constitution] and which, perhaps, I could not surrender if I would . . .”
As understood by our Founders, Americans had pre-existing rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness or property, which pre-exist government; and, for any such government to be legitimate, it cannot restrict or eliminate these unalienable rights.
The right to self-defense goes back to ancient times and this right requires that individuals have the tools or weapons necessary; otherwise, this right would be a practical nullity. Yet, tyrants and illegitimate governments throughout history have nullified this extremely important right of self-defense by denying “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms.”
The American Founders understood that free-people had the inalienable rights to life, liberty and property; and therefore, had the right to defend themselves and their property with the weapons of their choice. Understanding human nature as they did, the Founders included the Second Amendment to the Constitution. It was understood that the right of self-defense pre-existed government but, the primary purpose of the Second Amendment was to make sure that the American people had the necessary weapons to defend themselves against a future tyrannical government. Therefore, under the Second Amendment, the American people are entitled to have the same type of weapons as the police and military.
If you believe, as Jefferson did, in “the rights of man . . . the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of god,” then Americans should be able to keep and bear arms to defend themselves and their property.
Furthermore, any laws passed, and any amendments ratified, that infringe on the unalienable rights to life, liberty and property, which includes the natural right to self-defense, would be unconstitutional in the free society envisioned by our Founders.
It is important that the American people understand their rights and how they have been indoctrinated through government-controlled compulsory schooling. Please, choose freedom, not slavery.
Dum Spiro, spero—While I breathe I hope.
Slainte mhath,
Robert G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D., LL.M.