Goodness, I should have kept up with this thread... where do I begin?

NRA: This organization is very well funded. But one must ask, by who? It's memebers? No... it's funded by the gun manufacturers, and not to the direct benefit of it's members, but for the reason of lobbying.

2nd Amendment: The right to bear arms was written in for two very good reasons. First, as a means for common defense against foreign invasion and homeland defense. It could be argued that this is a matter that doesn't apply as much now as it did then. However, if you go back and look at the opinions being bandied about at the Federal Convention of 1787, you will note that in times of peace, any standing army should be reduced to it's smallest possible size so as not to be used by it's government to intimidate the governed. Therefore, the need for a "well regulated militia" was of utmost importance for a ready fallback position should we need to quickly come to the defense of our country. But this end of the issue was the lessor of the two issues discussed concerning the 2nd.

The primary was this... Protection from tyrannical government. And this issue is just as poignant today as it was 230 years ago. These men, through personal experience and a close attention to previous historical governments made the correct assumption that tyranny is the rule rather than the exception. One cannot go back to that time in history, during the creation of these founding documents without tripping over scores of opinion on this matter.

"The Great Experiment" that is often referred to was not the creation nor the style of a republican government. This had been philosopied often throughout history and tried on a few occasions. The principles of a republic were well founded. The experiment was to whether this form of government could survive the eventual tyranny that would inevitably seek to inhabit it. Tyranny seeks power. It must. Otherwise it would not be an issue. Every civilization has been subjected to it no matter the form of government chosen. It was the government that the founders most feared would take away the rights of those that are now free. Not a foreign invader. This is abundantly clear in their opinions. Tyranny knows no era or century, it simply exists.

So here you have gone through all the trouble of fighting a war to recognize the individual sovereign rights of all individuals, but how do you protect them? How do you keep tyranny from getting a foothold? How do you empower the people to be able to stand up to their government should the need arise (and it always has, does and will, for it is the nature of man to seek to rule, not to share rule).

I urge you all to take a very good look at why the founders saw the need to include provisions for an armed populace. It has nothing to do with hunting, protection from nare-do-wells, and little to do with foreign invaders. These men feared government, even the one they went to such great lengths to create. Government is nothing more than principles put on paper. It's the men in government that must uphold them. But it is we that back them up, give them foundation and protection from a few that may wish to remove them for nefarious means.

I will write more on this later...
You'll find the minutes to the Federal convention on the "wisdom of rights" thread. Check them out.

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S.O.S. ------ United We Stand, Divided We Fall