Keep and Bear Arms

Come and Get�em

by Paul E. Britton

I spent my Mother�s Day down in DC, participating in the Second Amendment Sister�s pro-2nd Amendment Rally. It was a truly inspirational event. While there, I realized that the gun debate is a hopelessly polarized issue.

Our pro-gun side has the facts and the stats on our side. Even Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran (author of �A Fairwell to Arms�) admits that privately owned guns are used to save over 120,000 lives each year, far more than the numbers killed. Other studies place defensive use of guns at 2.5 million uses each year. No matter which statistic you use, guns do more good than harm. Accidental gun deaths are way down. Crime is down. States with �liberal� concealed carry laws have seen dramatic drops in crime. When was the last time you heard of a tourist being assaulted in Florida? This doesn�t seem to matter to the anti-gun crowd. They don�t understand guns, and they don�t want to. The Million Mom March organizers refuse to join the NRA in educating children in gun safety. The NRA�s Eddie Eagle program doesn�t promote gun ownership, it just tells kids not to touch a gun they find, and to get an adult. Common sense, right? Not to the Million Moms.

We have common sense on our side. A criminal, by definition, won�t obey the laws. Even MD AG Joseph Curran admits this. Additionally, under the 5th Amendment a criminal is exempt from licensing and registration (self-incrimination). Common sense would tell us that a criminal would remain armed, while the victim is being disarmed by gun control. Common sense tells us that the police need guns to deal with criminals. Why don�t civilians? Which would you rather have when facing a rapist or murderer, a cell phone or a gun? The dirty little secret is that police have no legal obligation to protect you. Who will?

We have the Constitution on our side. Most serious Constitutional Scholars have come to the conclusion that the 2nd Amendment relates to the people, not the National Guard. Our Founding Fathers feared a tyrannical government, and felt the 2nd was the Amendment that guaranteed all the rest. Read the Federalist Papers to get further insight into their rational, or listen to them directly:

"Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in possession and under our direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?" ~~Patrick Henry (1736-1799)

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms�disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater � confidence than an armed man." ~~Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and punishment (1764).

Somehow, all this doesn�t seem to matter. Gun owners are demonized using the same methods that Adolph Hitler used to demonize the Jews:

Identification - we have the government and health care identifying gun owners as a public threat
Ostracizing - there is a campaign to make gun owner pariahs, even to the point of keeping your children from visiting a home with a gun
Confiscation � this has already started with New York, DC, California. The MMM is calling for the elimination of handguns. [And so is IL congressocialist Blogojevich.]

Gun owners have become the New Jews of America. We are believed to be dangerous, uncaring monsters that pose a public health risk. Genocide was has always been preceded by Gun Control.

Many of us are sick of arguing. Despite having the facts, the stats, the Constitution, and common sense on our side, we continue to lose our rights. The anti-gun crowd accuses us of failing to compromise. What is compromise? I was raised to believe a compromise is where both sides give a little. The anti-gun crowd believes compromise is where they demand everything, and get some of it each time. What have we EVER received in these compromises? Our rights continue to be eroded, one piece at a time. We have never received any concessions in return. We would like a National Concealed Carry. Where is the compromise?

Thomas Jefferson said, �The beauty of the 2nd Amendment is that it will never be needed until they try to take it away.� If they want our guns, let them come and take them. The British tried over 200 years ago at Lexington and Concord, and you know where that got them. It�s not about guns, it�s about Liberty! Freedom!

COME AND GET�EM!

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Written By:	Paul E Britton
	Come and Get�em by Paul E. Britton I spent my Mother�s Day down in DC, participating in the Second Amendment Sister�s pro-2nd Amendment Rally. It was a truly inspirational event. While there, I realized that the gun debate is a hopelessly polarized issue. Our pro-gun side has the facts and the stats on our side. Even Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran (author of �A Fairwell to Arms�) admits that privately owned guns are used to save over 120,000 lives each year, far more than the numbers killed. Other studies place defensive use of guns at 2.5 million uses each year. No matter which statistic you use, guns do more good than harm. Accidental gun deaths are way down. Crime is down. States with �liberal� concealed carry laws have seen dramatic drops in crime. When was the last time you heard of a tourist being assaulted in Florida? This doesn�t seem to matter to the anti-gun crowd. They don�t understand guns, and they don�t want to. The Million Mom March organizers refuse to join the NRA in educating children in gun safety. The NRA�s Eddie Eagle program doesn�t promote gun ownership, it just tells kids not to touch a gun they find, and to get an adult. Common sense, right? Not to the Million Moms. We have common sense on our side. A criminal, by definition, won�t obey the laws. Even MD AG Joseph Curran admits this. Additionally, under the 5th Amendment a criminal is exempt from licensing and registration (self-incrimination). Common sense would tell us that a criminal would remain armed, while the victim is being disarmed by gun control. Common sense tells us that the police need guns to deal with criminals. Why don�t civilians? Which would you rather have when facing a rapist or murderer, a cell phone or a gun? The dirty little secret is that police have no legal obligation to protect you. Who will? We have the Constitution on our side. Most serious Constitutional Scholars have come to the conclusion that the 2nd Amendment relates to the people, not the National Guard. Our Founding Fathers feared a tyrannical government, and felt the 2nd was the Amendment that guaranteed all the rest. Read the Federalist Papers to get further insight into their rational, or listen to them directly: "Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in possession and under our direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?" ~~Patrick Henry (1736-1799) "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms�disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater � confidence than an armed man." ~~Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and punishment (1764). Somehow, all this doesn�t seem to matter. Gun owners are demonized using the same methods that Adolph Hitler used to demonize the Jews: Identification - we have the government and health care identifying gun owners as a public threat Ostracizing - there is a campaign to make gun owner pariahs, even to the point of keeping your children from visiting a home with a gun Confiscation � this has already started with New York, DC, California. The MMM is calling for the elimination of handguns. [And so is IL congressocialist Blogojevich.] Gun owners have become the New Jews of America. We are believed to be dangerous, uncaring monsters that pose a public health risk. Genocide was has always been preceded by Gun Control. Many of us are sick of arguing. Despite having the facts, the stats, the Constitution, and common sense on our side, we continue to lose our rights. The anti-gun crowd accuses us of failing to compromise. What is compromise? I was raised to believe a compromise is where both sides give a little. The anti-gun crowd believes compromise is where they demand everything, and get some of it each time. What have we EVER received in these compromises? Our rights continue to be eroded, one piece at a time. We have never received any concessions in return. We would like a National Concealed Carry. Where is the compromise? Thomas Jefferson said, �The beauty of the 2nd Amendment is that it will never be needed until they try to take it away.� If they want our guns, let them come and take them. The British tried over 200 years ago at Lexington and Concord, and you know where that got them. It�s not about guns, it�s about Liberty! Freedom! COME AND GET�EM!