Unfortunately, a vast number of people who are charged with protecting our liberties are often the ones who are engaged in trying to take those liberties away. And the right to keep and bear arms must be regarded as one of the most important (if not THE most important) liberties deserving protection. Without the people’s right to keep and bear arms, all of the rest of the laws protecting our liberties are only words on a piece of paper. It is the armed citizenry that protects every liberty we cherish.
Obviously, every lawmaker (at any level) takes an oath to support, protect, and defend the U.S. Constitution. Yet, the number of lawmakers who routinely do everything in their power to restrict or deny the people’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms is quite large--especially on America’s east and west coasts. Thankfully, over the past several years, lawmakers from gun-friendly states have been able fend off the attacks against our Second Amendment liberties. And lawmakers in “The Constitution State” are learning that the freedom-loving people of Connecticut are not going to be bullied out of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
According to several published reports, only about 15% of the gun owners in Connecticut have complied with the State’s new law requiring them to either relinquish or register (for future confiscation) their semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. So, what will the State of Connecticut do now? To not comply with the new State law is a felony. Will the State of Connecticut seek to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of its citizens for failure to comply with the new gun ban? I would dare say that, if this happened, fellow citizens from all over America would descend on Connecticut to defend their fellow gun owners in a way not dissimilar from the gathering at the Concord Bridge in Massachusetts back in 1775. Does the State of Connecticut really want to start another American Revolution? We’ll see.
Obviously, the majority of lawmakers in the State of Connecticut have abandoned their oath to the Constitution and have become the instrument of those forces that would take away the people’s liberties. The same could be said for lawmakers in states such as Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and California.
But it is not only lawmakers who are guilty of breaking their oaths to the Constitution and who are working against the people’s right to keep and bear arms. It is an absolute fact that the vast majority of the mainstream media is vehemently anti-gun. The bias of the national media on this subject is documented beyond question. From sportscasters such as Bob Costas to talking heads such as Joe Scarborough to the vast majority of newscasters, commentators, editors, and pundits at CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, ad infinitum, the barrage of attacks against the Second Amendment is ubiquitous.
Unfortunately, lawmakers and media personnel are not the only ones promoting an anti-Second Amendment position. Many physicians, police officers, and pastors often raise their power and influence against the sacred duty of armed self-defense, as well.
For example, Dr. Ben Carson, a man that I personally respect and admire for many reasons, has raised his voice against the right of people to keep and bear arms. When asked by Glenn Beck if people should be allowed to own semi-automatic rifles, Dr. Carson replied, “It depends on where you live. I think if you live in the midst of a lot of people, and I’m afraid that that semi-automatic weapon is going to fall into the hands of a crazy person, I would rather you not have it.”
See the report here:
Dr. Benjamin Carson On Gun Control: "It Depends On Where You Live"
Obviously, that means Dr. Carson would prefer to disarm everyone who lives “in the midst of a lot of people,” meaning any big city. If you add up the combined populations of the major cities in this country, it would total the vast majority of the U.S. population. Many major cities in America already have very strict gun control laws, which only serve to endanger the law-abiding citizens living in those cities. The fact is if anyone needs the right to keep AND BEAR arms, it is people who live in big cities. Violent crime rates absolutely prove it.
Now, Ben Carson the individual has the right to his opinion; but many people are touting Carson’s name as a potential presidential candidate in 2016. For a president (America’s Chief Executive charged with executing our laws, including the Second Amendment) to say, “I would rather you not have [a semi-automatic rifle]” is not acceptable--not in any shape, manner, or form.
Unfortunately, Dr. Carson is not the only physician who thinks this way. The American Medical Association (AMA) has a long history of advocating for gun control. See their official position supporting gun control here:
AMA Violence Prevention
Fortunately, the AMA does not speak for all physicians. The Association of American Physicians And Surgeons (AAPS) is very supportive of the Second Amendment--along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. I encourage readers to speak with their doctors about joining the AAPS. The current president of AAPS is Dr. Tom Kendall, Sr. He is a personal friend of mine. Here is the association’s website:
AAPS
President Obama’s pick for Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, is also a high-profile anti-Second Amendment crusader. Even the liberal Mail Online news site rightly points out Murthy’s anti-gun activism. See the report here:
Revealed: Obama's Controversial Pick For Surgeon General Adopted His Anti-Gun Stance By Watching Violent Cartoons
U.S Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is mounting a campaign to deny Dr. Murthy the position of U.S. Surgeon General. I encourage readers to support Senator Paul’s campaign. See this report:
Sen. Paul To Fight Obama's Surgeon General Pick
Sadly, physicians are not the only ones advocating for gun control; many police officers feel the same way. The State Police spokesman for Connecticut, Lt. Paul Vance, shouted over the phone at a citizen who had called to question how law enforcement personnel in Connecticut were going to enforce the newly-enacted gun ban by screaming, “I don’t want to talk about the Constitution, Ma’am, at all, at all.” When reminded by the caller that police officers were servants of the people, the lieutenant yelled, “I’m the master, Ma’am, I’m the master.”
See the report here:
Gun-Grabbing Cop Goes Ballistic: "I'm The Master!"
It is an unfortunate reality that the attitude depicted by Lt. Vance is shared by thousands of police officers throughout the nation. The “us-versus-them” mentality seems to permeate law enforcement. And, of course, the “them” in question is the citizenry that policemen are supposed to serve. Examples of Gestapo-like tactics being employed by various police personnel are growing like wildfire. If you are not afraid to be illuminated by the truth, I challenge you to Google “police abuse” and see what comes up. But I caution you: what you will discover will shock and anger you.
More and more innocent people are being shot and killed by trigger-happy cops who have seemingly adopted a “shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later” philosophy. It is to the point that the American people need to seriously begin lobbying lawmakers and judges to severely restrict “no knock” arrest warrants and to begin severely punishing these rogue, out-of-control policemen. If something isn’t done quickly, what is now rogue behavior will soon morph into routine behavior.
And, of course, I haven’t even addressed the militarization of most all of America’s law enforcement agencies, including county and municipal police agencies. More and more, our policemen and sheriff’s deputies are looking like soldiers, not peace officers.
Not all of our policemen share this anti-Second Amendment, us-versus-them, “I’m the master” mentality. Thank God! Lawmen in states that heavily support the right of the people to keep and bear arms are mostly very gun-friendly. However, in larger cities and in states that are less gun-friendly, the trend in law enforcement is ominous.
Finally, another group of leaders who should be among the most supportive voices of our Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, is America’s pastors. And, once again, the majority of these men seem to be either utterly indifferent to the Second Amendment or downright adamant in opposing it.
In rebuking a fellow pastor who decided to raffle a modified AR-15 rifle to his church congregation in upstate New York, Pastor Willie Bacote, of Missing Link AME Zion Church in Troy, said, “The fact a church would offer some type of weapon to anyone strikes me as ludicrous and goes against everything the Bible teaches. The only thing we’re supposed to arm citizens with is the word of God, not guns.”
See the report here:
New York Pastor's Sunday Service Assault Rifle Giveaway Draws Controversy
Believe me: Rev. Bacote speaks for a host of America’s pastors--probably a majority. When President Obama and Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced their national gun ban bill last year, what did the vast majority of America’s pastors do? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! They said nothing; they did nothing. If it was left up to them, the American people would have lost the right to keep and bear arms years ago.
Once again, I want to appeal to readers to purchase the book that my attorney son and I wrote entitled, “To Keep Or Not To Keep: Why Christians Should Not Give Up Their Guns.” This is an in-depth scriptural study of the Biblical, Natural Law principle of the right and duty of self-defense. Order it here:
Keep Your Arms
Had the Colonial pastors in 1775 and 1776 (and years before) shared the convictions of the majority of today’s pastors, we would still be a subjugated colony of the British Crown. And that is a fact.
To me, no freedom-loving Christian who cherishes the liberties bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers, including the right to keep and bear arms, should maintain fellowship with a church whose pastor will allow the members of his congregation to be stripped of their God-given right of self-defense. I would no more support a pastor who will not protect my right to keep and bear arms than I would support a politician who will not protect my right to keep and bear arms.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history. It is time that those of us who truly love freedom stop supporting those men and women who are working--either positively or passively--for those forces that seek to strip us of our lawful means of self-defense.
We should cast no vote for any political candidate who will not defend the Second Amendment. I don’t care what political party he or she represents. Unless it is a matter of life or death, we should not support a physician that would seek to deny us the right to keep and bear arms. We should be eternally vigilant against the growing propensity of policemen to become abusive and tyrannical by aggressively lobbying our elected representatives, mayors, governors, judges, etc., in demanding that our peace officers submit to the Constitution and show due respect to the citizens they serve. And we should not support those pastors and ministers who refuse to be a watchman on the wall for our God-given liberties--including the right to keep and bear arms.
If we are going to maintain our freedom, all must participate. And that means our civil magistrates, our doctors, our peace officers, and our pastors. And, yes, it means you and me, too.
(c) Chuck Baldwin
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