by James Glaser
April 28, 2003

Most people think gun control is about "concealed/carry" laws or controlling gun sales at gun shows. Most people don't understand that Gun Control is an assault on the Constitution and our Second Amendment rights, because they look at it as a law enforcement problem.

I think Representative Ron Paul of Texas said it best with these words. "The Second amendment is not about hunting deer or keeping a pistol in your night stand. It is not about protecting oneself against common criminals. It is about preventing tyranny. The Founders knew that unarmed citizens would never be able to overthrow a tyrannical government as they did. The muskets they used against the British Army were the assault rifles of the time. It is practical rather than alarmist to understand that unarmed citizens cannot be secure in their freedoms. It is convenient for gun banners to dismiss this argument by saying, "That will never happen here, this is America"—but history shows that only vigilant people can keep government under control. By banning certain weapons today, we may plant seeds of tyranny to flourish ten, thirty, or fifty years from now."

I haven't shot a rifle in over a year and even though Minnesota is about to open it up for people to carry concealed weapons, I doubt if I will even apply for a permit. I do however agree with Representative Paul.

For years now, many working class Democrats that I know have not been able to vote for their party because of the gun issue. They always said that, "at least Republicans trust me enough to have a gun." Well that is no longer true. President Bush has come out supporting the reauthorization of the so called "assault weapons ban" passed in 1994 with a sunset provision that would cause the law to end next year.

Not only assault weapons were banned with this law, but also many sporting rifles and pistols that the government thought held too many rounds. Many people ask who would need these weapons? Few of those people even know what is in this law nor much about the Second amendment. Many ordinary rifles are banned as are the capacity for the amount of rounds these weapons can carry. People out to commit crimes have no trouble getting their hands on true military assault weapons, nor the banned clips and magazines needed.

Honest Americans are not about to kill people, commit crimes, nor over throw the government, even if everyone of them had a machine gun. Honest Americans do not change into terrorists because their rifle will carry twenty rounds instead of ten. Because criminals can buy what ever weapon they want on the black market, a ban on assault weapons does nothing to make us safer.

Even if these assault weapons are made legal again, true criminals will not be buying them through legitimate sources. First off the Brady Bill and its background checks stop them and second, the weapon is traceable then.

Once the American people lose the right to bear arms we will be at the total mercy of those in power. George Bush knows this as did Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Germany and Russia got rid of the peoples right to bear arms before they destroyed their other rights. Can't happen in America? Well a few years ago no one would have believed that the government could search your home without a judge signing a warrant. They do now. No one in America would have ever believed that an American citizens could be thrown in prison with no charge, and no trial. Well they can and have been now.

Americans love their country and their freedoms, but we watch as more and more of those freedoms are traded for promises of safety. If we give up the right to have the weapons we believe we need to protect ourselves and those freedoms, anything can happen. Sure there were many German people that wanted to rise up and stop Adolph Hitler, but they couldn't because they had given up their right to bear arms.

George Bush and those in Washington know if they want to continue to destroy our nation they must disarm us. Today we still have the ballot box to fight back with. But what about our children and grandchildren? What happens to them when we have given away their rights. What happens to them when they no longer have the means to protest, no matter how out of line Washington gets. It has happened in many countries in our life time, so don't stick your head in the sand.

Remember these words? "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." These words are not subversive, these words are from our own Declaration of Independence, July 4th 1776.

If we give up our rights to bear arms, we also give up our children's and grandchildren's right to protect their freedom.