Because it is so often made so painfully obvious that even those in our government fail to understand the intentions of the second amendment, I yield to James Madison- the author of the second amendment:

“Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it. ”
—James Madison,The Federalist Papers, No. 46.

Madison explains that private arms are a necessary component of the system of checks and balances constructed to defend our people against tyranny.

Here is an example of Senator Graham doing his best to defend the Constitution, but failing to understand that it is reasonable and actually intended that people have firearms to defend against tyranny, because without them, tyranny is inevitable:

It is important we not revise the meaning as Senator Graham does with his “reasonable” argument. In reality we should have the right to own machine guns and cannons [yes the founders had military firearms common to the British Army, and privately owned artillery pieces], but should also belong to a society where people are raised with an emphasis on morality, so that we police our own actions and are responsible citizens of a nation that is a shining example in the world community of what nations should be. The enemy of America has been very clever with watering down morality and de-emphasizing personal responsibility for actions and it is eroding the natural strength and beauty of our people over time. Our people comprise our government and our nation. Without strong, responsible, and moral people, we cannot possibly be the nation our founders intended us to be.

John Adams wrote, “Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.”- What a timeless quote that is turning out to be. Last week the President’s first response to a terrible crime was this knee jerk reaction call to ban “Assault” weapons. Since that time we’ve heard a steady mantra in media that has been filled with liberal-speak such as, “America needs to have a discussion about the second amendment.” or “There is no reason for hunters to have an assault weapon.”

The second amendment actually never mentions hunting or hunters or sporting firearms at all. Instead it states:

“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.”

In reality, we don’t need to put the second amendment on the table for modification and limitation. In the same way, we should also not throw freedom of religion or freedom of speech or freedom to demonstrate peacefully, or the right to vote or others of the original 10 amendments of the United States Constitution’s “Bill of Rights” on a table for modification. The Bill of Rights is a document that should not be modified from its original form, nor should a right that expressly states “Shall not be infringed” be limited to law abiding citizens.

In 2010, the last year I could find FBI Uniform Crime Report data for, there were 12,996 homicides. Guns were used to kill 8,775. Rifles (all categories of rifles) were used to kill 358 people. Handguns were used to kill 16.78 times as many people as rifles in 2010. knives were actually used to kill 4.76 times as many people as rifles in 2010 and a fraction of that 358 for rifles is accounted by the type of rifles the media is referring to as “Assault weapons”. Your and my statistical likelyhood of being killed by a rifle was one in 880,000 in 2010. Unless you are terrified of choking to death on a peanut butter sandwich, you need not fear untimely demise by assault weapons, which represent only a part of the rifles statistical likelyhood. Choking claims the lives of ~872 people in the US per year*, rendering choking 2.43 times more deadly than rifles in the USA.

Faced with data like this, there are only two logical conclusions for assault weapons to be in the spotlight of politicians: A:) They are ignorant of statistics, and irrationally feel that assault weapons account for more crime than they actually do / They have a profound lack of respect for the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Or B:) They do know the statistics and simply want to take our most modern and tactically useful weapons away in an obvious effort to move the country into tyrannical regime / they hate the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and feel we have no sacred rights as Americans.

This leads me to the final point of this post. How are we to have a well regulated militia without modern weapons? These weapons are the muskets of our time. We cannot allow ourselves to be disarmed of the very weapons that would be most vital should there ever be a time that we, or our children, or their children need to protect our free country and its Constitution from enemies, foreign or domestic. And that’s not a radical thing for me to say. The government asked and I agreed to take an oath. I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That is no more or less than can be expected of every American citizen in this country.

So let it be known, and let it be repeated, the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, is not about sportsmen, hunters, and sporting firearms. These are just sad doublespeak arguments of the traitors in our midst. The Second Amendment is our defense against violence, our defense against tyranny, our guaranty of Liberty which is “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life.” For the record firearms are my way of life, and I love freedom and the Bill of Rights.

*CDC 2006