Right to Bare Arms

The 2nd Amendment

*The Right to Bare Arms*

What part of 'Shall Not Be Infringed' don't you understand?

Gun Control:
The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

Founding Father's Intention & Purpose of the *Right to Bare Arms*
In their own words, the Framers saw the "right of the people to keep and bear arms" so important that they made it second in our Bill of Rights.
In a nation governed by the people themselves, the possession of arms to defend their nation against usurpers within and without was deemed absolutely necessary. This right is protected by the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.

The Second Amendment wasn't written into our Bill of Rights so that we could go duck or deer hunting.The Second Amendment was given to us as protection against tyranny by the federal government and the Congress of the United States.

Quotes
George Washington: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence."

Thomas Jefferson: "And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. ... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Patrick Henry:"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined...The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.

Samuel Adams:"The Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms."

George Mason:"To disarm the people (is) the best and most effectual way to enslave them."

Thomas Jefferson: "The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."

Alexander Hamilton: "The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."

Tench Coxe: "Whereas civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize ... the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms."

Thomas Jefferson: "One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them."

Thomas Jefferson:"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

Richard Henry Lee: "To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."

Thomas Jefferson: "None but an armed nation can dispense with a standing army. To keep ours armed and disciplined is therefore at all times important."

Alexander Hamilton: "If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all forms of positive government."

Thomas Jefferson: "Most codes extend their definitions of treason to acts not really against one's country. They do not distinguish between acts against the government, and acts against the oppressions of the government. The latter are virtues, yet have furnished more victims to the executioner than the former, because real treasons are rare; oppressions frequent. The unsuccessful strugglers against tyranny have been the chief martyrs of treason laws in all countries."

George Mason: "Who are the militia? They consist of the whole people, except a few public officers."

Thomas Jefferson: "It astonishes me to find... [that so many] of our countrymen... should be contented to live under a system which leaves to their governors the power of taking from them the trial by jury in civil cases, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of commerce, the habeas corpus laws, and of yoking them with a standing army. This is a degeneracy in the principles of liberty... which I [would not have expected for at least] four centuries."

Thomas Jefferson: "I hope, therefore, a bill of rights will be formed to guard the people against the federal government as they are already guarded against their State governments, in most instances."

With guns, we are citizens. Without them, we are subjects

Argument:The Second Amendment does not guarantee a personal right to own firearms.
Facts:Over thirty law review articles and several books argue that "gun control" laws are not constitutional.

Argument:The Supreme Court has held that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to the States, not to individual citizens.
Facts:Several Supreme Court decisions note that the term "the people" mentioned in the Second Amendment refers only to individual citizens; no Supreme Court decision to the contrary

Gun banners' cherished myth - that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with individual rights To hear gun banners talk over the past few years, the Second Amendment is the one amendment in the Bill of Rights where a guarantee of a "right of the people" really has nothing to do with the people, but with a collective right of state governments to create militias.
The First Amendment may protect individuals' right to call the president a bastard,
the Third Amendment may assure private citizens that troops won't be parked in their kitchens,
and the Fourth Amendment mayguard individuals against having their doors kicked in at random by the forces of law and order,
but "the right of the people" mentioned in the Second is somehow nothing more than an assurance that the governor can callout the National Guard to deal with riots and floods.They've had to ignore the wording of the Second Amendment itself.
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.

History of 'Gun Control' In Other Countries
The Soviet Union established gun control in 1929.
From 1929 to 1953,about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Turkey established gun control in 1911. From 1915 to 1917,
1.5 Million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938.
From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews and others, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935.
From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970.
From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Known defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

What Works * What Doesn't Work
Killings increased in places designated"gun-free zones", like schools, but not in places where people are regularly armed.There has never been a mass killing at a gun show, an NRA convention or any other place where one expects the majority of people may be armed.
What Doesn't Work:
Australia In 1997 they outlawed private possession of guns except in rare instances. They instituted a buyback program to remove guns from their society. The politicians promised this would make the country safer.

The results:Taxpayer Cost
As of August 31, 1998, the government bought a total of 643,726 guns from owners at a coast to taxpayers of $319,833,727.
The collection and destruction of these weapons cost the Australian taxpayer more than $500 Million

The results:Cost to Life & Property
Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics:
homicides up 3.2 percent
assaults up 8.6 percent
armed robberies up 44 percent.

In the state of Victoria,homicides with firearms increased a staggering 300 percent.
The government's own statistics show the rate of homicides with firearms consistently decreased in Australia during the 25 years before the buyback,but increased in the 12 months following the government's buyback.
Firearms used in the commission of armed robbery also increased during the same period.
Crimes against women and the elderly increased sharply, as well.
Australia homicides averaged less than 1.8 per 100,000 of population in the years 1910 through 1997.
Since the gun ban the country has fewer guns and more crime.

What Works:
Israel had a problem with terrorists killing children in their schools.
In 1975 they armed their teachers, aids,and volunteer parents and grandparents. These people watch over the schools and protect the children.
Since 1975, when the program started, not one child has been killed in a school in Israel. NOT ONE!!!

The Emotional Argument *The Statistical Facts
Argument: Criminologists agree that firearm ownership presents a high risk of violence, and that gun control laws work.
Facts: Large number of scholarly studies by criminologist showing firearms ownership does not increase risks of violence, and that "gun control" does not work.

Argument:It is safer to submit to a felonious attack than to resist with a firearm
Facts:Study data show that a victim with a firearm is 50% less likely to be injured than one who submits.

Argument:It is safer to use weapons other than firearms for self-protection from felonious attack.
Facts:Study data show that victims who use firearms for self-defense are 67% less likely to be injured than those using other kinds of weapons.

Argument:Screaming and running away are safer than using a firearm to resist a rapist.
Facts:Study data shows that screaming and running away is far more dangerous to the victim than using a firearm to resist a rapist.

Argument:Other countries' severe limits on firearms ownership have reduced murder, suicide, and crime rates.
Facts:Studies by David Kopel and others of foreign "gun control" laws show no consistent correlation between "gun control" laws or gun ownership rates, and the rates of murder, suicide, and crime.

Argument:Other countries' experience shows that more restrictions on firearms ownership decreased homicides and suicides in those countries; the more available firearms are, the higher a country's incidence of violence.
Facts:The incidence of violence in European countries was low long before restrictive "gun control" laws were enacted. European suicide rates are much higher than U.S. suicide rates. If homicide and suicide rates are combined, the U.S. is still below the median of 18 major nations.11 Israel has a policy of encouraging widespread firearm possession also has the lowest homicide + suicide rate.

Argument:Very restrictive licensing requirements in Switzerland result in very low incidence of "handgun deaths."
Facts:Swiss law requires licensing of all handguns. Swiss government routinely lends handguns to millions of civilians, however. Swiss law allows widespread carrying of handguns. Handguns are widely available.

Argument:Restrictive handgun licensing laws in Israel result in very low incidence of "handgun deaths."
Facts:Israeli government routinely lends handguns from its armories to civilians; Israeli law promotes the carrying of concealed handguns to maximize the likelihood that citizens in public places will be armed.

Argument:Fully-automatic weapons are so dangerous that enlightened governments entirely ban private possession of them.
Facts:Any law-abiding, responsible, and trained Israelis may draw a sub- machine gun out of a government armory.

Argument:When nations enact restrictive "gun control" laws, homicide rates fall to low levels.
Facts:Taiwan's murder rate is higher than the U.S. rate -- although possession of a firearm in Taiwan is a capital offense. South Africa has very restrictive "gun control" laws, yet its homicide rate is double the U.S. rate.

Argument:The greater the availability of handguns, the higher will be the rates of fatal "gun accidents."
Facts:From 1967 to 1986, the number of handguns owned in the U.S. increased by 173%; the per capita rate of fatal "gun accidents" in this period fell by two-thirds, and the total number of such accidents decreased by 50%, in spite of increased population over the same period.

Argument:The greater the availability of handguns, the higher will be the homicide rates.
Facts:From 1973 to 1992, the number of handguns owned increased by 110%; the per capita rate of homicide was unpatterned and varied erratically over the same period, and was 9.5% lower in 1992. Fewer homicides were committed with firearms in 1988 than in 1973.

Argument:Most murderers were law-abiding citizens before they pulled the trigger.
Facts:Studies show that 75% of murderers have adult criminal records before the murder; half of the remaining 25% are juveniles with no "adult" record; murderers tend to be rather extreme aberrants with histories of violence & crime.

Fact:
Washington, DC has the strongest Gun Control Laws in the US
Washington DC is the Murder Capital of the United States

Rape-Statistical Best Defense
Use of a weapon, and especially a firearm, is statistically a woman's best means of resistance, greatly enhancing her odds of escaping both rape and injury, compared to any other strategy of physical or verbal resistance.
This conclusion is drawn from four types of information.

First, a 1989 study (Furby, Journal of Interpersonal Violence) found that both male and female survey respondents judged a gun to be the most effective means that a potential rape victim could use to fend off the assault. Rape "experts" considered it a close second, after eye-gouging.

Second, raw data from the 1979-1985 installments of the Justice Department's annual National Crime Victim Survey show that when a woman resists a stranger rape with a gun, the probability of completion was 0.1 percent and of victim injury 0.0 percent, compared to 31 percent and 40 percent, respectively, for all stranger rapes (Kleck, Social Problems, 1990).

Third, a recent paper (Southwick, Journal of Criminal Justice, 2000) analyzed victim resistance to violent crimes generally, with robbery, aggravated assault and rape considered together. Women who resisted with a gun were 2.5 times more likely to escape without injury than those who did not resist and 4 times more likely to escape uninjured than those who resisted with any means other than a gun. Similarly, their property losses in a robbery were reduced more than six-fold and almost three-fold, respectively, compared to the other categories of resistance strategy.

Fourth, we have two studies in the last 20 years that directly address the outcomes of women who resist attempted rape with a weapon. (Lizotte, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 1986; Kleck, Social Problems, 1990.) The former concludes, "Further, women who resist rape with a gun or knife dramatically decrease their probability of completion." (Lizotte did not analyze victim injuries apart from the rape itself.) The latter concludes that "resistance with a gun or knife is the most effective form of resistance for preventing completion of a rape"; this is accomplished "without creating any significant additional risk of other injury."

The best conclusion from available scientific data, then, is when avoidance of rape has failed and one must choose between being raped and resisting, a woman's best option is to resist with a gun in her hands.

Doctors Accidently Cause More Deaths Than Guns
Number of physicians in the US = 700,000
Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year = 120,000
Accidental deaths per physician = 0.171
(U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)

Number of gun owners in the US = 80,000,000
Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) = 1,500
Accidental deaths per gun owner = 0.0000188
( U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms)

Therefore, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

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