Second Amendment Made Simple (With Rick Green)
Brad Stine sat down with Constitution wizard, Rick Green, to discuss the SIMPLICITY of the beautiful Second Amendment and why so many people get it WRONG!
If you’re easily triggered, this may not be the episode for you!
Now, I LOVE the First Amendment of our Constitution. But, the irony of it does not escape me: The same people who want to abolish the Second Amendment and ban guns and exercise their First Amendment rights to shout their rally cries earned that right because somebody had a gun and fought for their right to speak out.
This week, my partner in crime, Rick Green, joins me to discuss the history and 21st century necessity for the Second Amendment.
First off, let’s look at the actual text:
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.
Now, one thing that I hear a lot is that the Second Amendment does not apply to today’s gun culture with today’s rapid fire and high technology weaponry. It only pertains to musket-type guns that the Founding Fathers knew in the 18th century. Therefore, we need to readdress the Second Amendment.
According to Rick, we should always examine the principle that influenced the original writing of our foundational documents. That being said, if we applied the same argument to our Freedom of Speech, well we have “rapid-fire-speech” going on via social media in a manner that our Founding Fathers would have never imagined, yet the very same proponents of gun control use social media religiously and extremely rapidly with the intent of influencing our culture!
In terms of the Second Amendment itself, let’s start with defining our terms. When the Bill of Rights was written the “Militia” was every man who was able to grab a gun. It was individuals who had the ability and intestinal fortitude to grab a gun and protect the State, or more locally, their community. Many times, this even included the leadership of the local pastors! The individual is also emphasized by the words “the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear Arms”. By using the words “the people”, the authors insisted that the ability to own and use firearms belonged to individual people, not specific organizations, such as the U.S. military.
So, why shouldn’t our rights be infringed? There are two particular things that the Second Amendment is protecting our rights to do: 1) To keep government at bay and intimidated enough to know that if a tyrannical government were to come knocking on our doors, we would be willing and able to fight back. 2) It is also our right to defend your person, property and family in the moment.
In fact, James Wilson – one of the most significant of our Founding Fathers who contributed to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as well as served on the Supreme Court – quoted the Castle Doctrine repeatedly. He insisted that if you get robbed in your home, it’s your own fault and negligence. In other words, each individual must be prepared to defend themselves and their families.
And that’s what the Second Amendment enables us to do!
It is not about hunting. It’s about responsible citizens having their weapons at the ready to protect themselves and their loved ones.
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