As (hopefully) all of you reading this will know, the Second Amendment of The Constitution protects Americans’ rights to have weapons (arms) to defend themselves against a tyrannical, out-of-control government. Please note that it does not give Americans the right to have weapons. It protects that right, which is “inalienable”, meaning that the right is inherent in human beings by the fact of their existence on earth, as described in the Declaration of Independence. The Amendment is not about having a gun with which to hunt or skeet-shoot or shoot in competitions of marksmanship. It is about defense against tyranny.

Now, in reality, virtually none of the American citizens have the ability or wherewithal to match the high-tech, high-dollar weapons that the government has at their disposal. None of my neighbors and I would guess that none of yours, have drones, sound cannons, scud missiles nor bunker-busters. So why defend our right to keep and bear arms? We’re no match for them, anyway.

Because it’s not about the guns. It’s about the PRINCIPLE that we have the right to live our lives in a way that we choose, with the only restriction being that we harm no one else in the process who does not harm us. If you – as far too many Americans soon will – give up your right to have weapons on the principle that you may defend yourself from tyranny, you will be saying to “TPTB”, “I am your willing slave. Go ahead. Do to me whatever you choose, because I submit to your will, no matter who it does or does not benefit.”

“Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.” – Mohandas Gandhi, an Autobiography, page 446. You’ll be giving up not a piece of metal, but your desire to be a free, natural human being. More than a right to protect yourself from those who would steal your natural-born rights, you have a responsibility to protect those rights to the best of your ability.

No matter how many grotesque, supremely tragic images of the dangers of the misuse of weapons are paraded in front of us, the missing image is that of a gun that is held to the head of a citizen because he or she has an opposing opinion to that which is approved by an out-of-control government; or the image of guns drawn and blazing to protect adults above the age of majority from consuming raw milk; or allowing the smoke of a cannabis plant into their own lungs; or the arrest of parents who allow their children to play with a foam-wrapped bubble machine with a handle reminiscent of a gun; or the invasion by armed IRS agents of a bottled water plant for documents that were never even asked for prior to the action; or the steroid-consuming, AR15-toting Forest Service “Police Officer” who declares that his jurisdiction includes any local, county, state or federal law that he decides to enforce.

And no matter how many grotesque, supremely tragic images of the dangers of the misuse of weapons are paraded in front of us, it does not address the base cause of the tragedy itself – mental illness in those who, whether directed to do so by an outside influence or internal glitch, perform the heinous acts of violence. If we spent as much time, energy and funds on recognizing and curing – not just treating with chemicals that exacerbate the problems – those mental illnesses as we will try to register guns so that they can later be confiscated more efficiently, the news of these inhumane acts will be curtailed to the point that they will no longer be “common occurrences”.

Under natural law, if we allow our sacred rights to be chipped away we are each as culpable as those who would steal those rights from the decent citizens who are such a threat to “TPTB”’s desire to enslave the masses – or at least those portions of the masses who are allowed to live on. If you still have faith in the governmental system, contact your representatives/senators and let them know that they are doing wrong if they approve or allow the restriction of gun ownership. Do not be complacent in the theft of your right to self-defense nor any other right that is being stolen from you.