Free Clue Regarding What The Militia Is
There is a saying, "
Ignorance of the law is no excuse." If this legally sanctioned myth is correct, then as far as I am concerned, this goes triple for office holders given authority and responsibility to uphold and enforce the laws. How can you uphold the Constitution if you don't understand what you are upholding?
The Constitution is to be read and understood in the light of the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence states:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and unalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.Inherent in the right to Life, is the right to defend and protect it. Inherent in the right to Liberty, is the right to choose what tools, tactics, and techniques will be used to defend and protect one's Life.
United States Constitution, Amendment 2 states: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. This very short sentence is packed with information, history, and context. I'll leave it to the reader to do the homework of reading the 107 page memorandum opinion for the attorney general found on the USDOJ web site and cited below. I have read it, and various other Liberty focused text, so I'll just sum up what the amendment means.
1. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is an individual right, just like the right of the people to engage in free speech, and right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects.
2. The
right to keep arms means the right to own and possess arms.
3. The
right to bear arms means exactly that: The right to BEAR arms. The right to carry arms on or about one's person.
4.
The militia referred to
is citizens with their own arms,
not members of the national guard of any state bearing the state's arms.
5. There are several reasons that the right to keep and bear is individual and essential.
5a. To kill tyrants.
5b. To kill invading armed forces.
5c. To defend one's life.
5d. To defend one's liberty.
5e. To defend one's property.
5f. To acquire food to stay alive.
I'll be using my own definition of tyrant to quickly portray the concept:
A tyrant is a criminal who holds a State office and/or uses the office to make and use the law to make his criminal acts "lawful". Tyrants use law to take lives, liberties, and property.This pdf file is a long read. It is 107 pages.
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/2004/08/31/op-olc-v028-p0126.pdfThe above excerpt was originally written by me as part of a longer essay and uploaded October 08, 2009
