Amendment II: 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.

The 27 words above have caused some of the most heated debates in recent history. The interpretation is clear to everyone involved in the debates, but clarity seems diametrically opposite.

Currently, the Constitution is under assault again from the people who want to save us from ourselves. The opponents of the Second Amendment appear to be remarkable people including psychics who are able to read the thoughts of our Founding Fathers long after their passing. These same people will take the other Amendments at their exact wording, but they are able to tell us that the Founding Fathers could have never envisioned the technology in firearms manufacturing. Well, Duh! There are many things that our Founding Fathers could have never fathomed including people like Karen Finley, a performance artist, being given government money just for getting naked and pouring chocolate syrup on her while reciting her rambling poetry. But the Liberals put up a venomous fight to preserve her right to collect federal grants to perform this garbage. They will push the envelope to expand their interpretation of the Constitution which agrees with their agenda, while at the same time trying to remove other rights such as the guarantees of the Second Amendment.

If anyone actually reads our Bill of Rights, they can plainly see that every Amendment applies to the rights of the individual. How can opponents feasibly rationalize that this particular Amendment doesn't apply to the individual? Constitutional scholars will argue until the end of time, or our democracy, about the true intent of the Second Amendment. But just read it and see where the commas are placed. This should read for itself. The final two parts of the sentence read clearly that the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

During the Constitutional Convention in 1779, it was decided that a state militia made up of all able body men reside in each state. In effect what they were saying is that all males constitute the body of the militia. This can be supported by the fact that all males have to currently register for the draft when they reach the age of 18.

Anyone with a brain can see that the main goal of the antigun zealots is to eliminate all guns. They are patient and have good evidence to support these methods since the antismoking lobby has had such success. Currently, Representative Rod Blagojevic (Democrat - Illinois) is sponsoring a bill to force gun manufacturers to test fire and record the ballistic markings on the bullet to keep on file in order to trace the fired projectile on criminal investigations. Excuse me Rod, any idiot can take a round file or screwdriver to scuff or scratch the inside of the barrel in order to change these markings. Not to mention improper care of a gun, like not cleaning it, can alter the ballistic markings itself. But on the plus side of this proposal for the Democrats, this will cost millions of dollars and create a whole new governmental bureaucracy for the sole purpose of attempting to solve a crime through ballistic matching.

The media has been an advocate for Democrat party causes since John F. Kennedy's father bought him the presidency and they remain loyal to the party to this day. This in part is the reason that we hear stories about gun deaths and accidents, but not about the number of other cases where a gun had saved a life. This is also due to the 'if it bleeds, it leads' policy in the media's fight to gain an audience. We heard on every news broadcast about the comments of NRA Vice President, Wayne LaPierre about Clinton having the blood on his hands of Benjamin Smith's shooting rampage victims. But when Clinton makes the same kind of statements about the NRA and right wing radio, there is a general agreement in media circles.

I just wish that the American people could be confronted with the truth about the gun issue. The federal government and local municipalities are suing tobacco companies and spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to educate people about everything else from the harm of tobacco to the ways for children to have safe sex. But they have yet to spend one dime on the education of gun safety. The only group that consistently makes the effort to educate anyone that is interested in gun safety is the NRA and they do it with privately funded programs.

It's time that the government practice what it preaches and educate rather than try to eradicate guns in America. For if the Liberals succeed in banning our Constitutional right to own firearms, we will be at the mercy of not only the government, but of the criminal element at large. I will personally offer to start a program for the antigun nuts to make big signs that their house is a "Gun Free" residence. I guarantee if they do this, we will have a lot more pro-Second Amendment people joining the cause.

As the old saying goes; A Liberal is a Conservative that hasn't been mugged yet.

Written By: Ray Patrick

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