I Second That Amendment

The Second Amendment is second to only one. 

It is widely accepted that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the most important amendment in our sacred Bill of Rights. I wholeheartedly agree. Freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceful assembly, and petitioning the government represent the very underpinnings of our American democracy.

These words written by James Madison and the other Founding Fathers are synonymous with the grand idea that is uniquely the United States of America. Without these rights–revolutionary at the time, but taken for granted in many circles today–our Republic crumbles. 

Throughout our history, The First Amendment to the Constitution has been under constant assault by individuals elected to lead us at all levels of government. I was a witness to this government encroachment firsthand, and what resulted was my organization’s victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The court found that Congress passed, and President George W. Bush signed into law, a measure that was unconstitutional because it stifled our right to free political speech. 

Thankfully, our First Amendment rights were recognized and reinstated in a 5 – 4 decision. Like the Founders of our American experiment, I am not one of those who believe government does not represent a threat to our God-given liberty. 

After ordering that “Congress shall make no law” with respect to the freedom of speech and religion, the Founders set forth in our nation’s Second Amendment that “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The Founders were so concerned about one of history’s lessons–the one that says unchecked governments, sooner or later, will tread on individual liberty–that they felt the absolute need to give people a means by which to defend themselves from their own government by bearing arms.

President Obama and countless others on the left mock this historical reality, but the truth is that tyranny still exists today and sometimes it re-emerges when you least expect it.

When you consider which rights were included in our first ten amendments after guaranteeing the right to keep and bear arms with the 2nd Amendment, you get a sense of how paramount the Founders’ convictions were about the need for individuals to be able to defend themselves against the government. Unreasonable search and seizure and probable cause are secured in the 4th Amendment. Due process and double jeopardy are addressed in the 5th Amendment. Trial by jury was made a right in the 6th Amendment, and cruel and unusual punishment was banned by the 8th Amendment. 

President Obama and the left want to fool us into believing that limiting gun rights is a foregone conclusion, and they can do it however they see fit. They’re flat wrong; it’s as big a deal as attempting to limit one of our other amendments, something President Obama would fight against with every ounce of his existence.

President Obama and Congress should think before they act. They should have an honest debate about how and why the massacre in Newtown happened. Is it because of a lack of gun control or for reasons they are refusing to acknowledge? I am exercising my Second Amendment right this weekend by going hunting with my son. It is a time honored tradition in my family. President Obama and those on the Left want to take that right away, and by putting another unconstitutional law on the books is certainly not the answer.