On Liberty and A Well-Regulated Militia

Freedom Must be Fought For and Defended.

“perhaps you and I have lived too long with this miracle to properly be appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation. For it only comes once to a people, and those in history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.”

- Ronald Reagan 1967

I am afraid for our freedom, for our liberties. Each day we see the encroaching totalitarian forces working to impede what we consider the “American Way of Life”. These forces are easing their way through the back door of socialism.

The growing acceptance of socialism by young adults will impact on our future as a free society sooner or later. Why is that? Because socialism is almost the direct opposite of capitalism. With socialism, the means of production are publicly owned (owned by the government - a controlled, centralized command economy). It is both an economic and political system. Production and consumer prices are controlled by the government to “best meet the needs of the people”. Whereas capitalism is an economic system under which private ownership controls the means of production. These two systems of governance are direct polar opposites.

Over the past hundred years, there have been more than two dozen attempts to build a socialist society. It has been tried in the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Albania, Poland, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, Hungary, China, East Germany, Cuba, Tanzania, Laos, South Yemen, Somalia, the Congo, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, Nicaragua and Venezuela, among others—not counting the very short-lived ones. All of these attempts have ended in varying degrees of failure.

-Kristian Niemietz, Head of Political Economy at the Institute for Economic Affairs London

Socialism is a failed model for governance.

Foundations on which this country were built include the ownership of private property, acquisitiveness, free speech, a role in government through our republic and democratic principles and individualism. Not to mention our right to bear arms. The second amendment to the constitution reads:

"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."

What does that exactly mean?

It is our right to own firearms, and with that right comes responsibility. A well-regulated militia requires that the people know how to use firearms properly. There is no better time to start training for use of firearms than in the youth. That is also when lessons regarding safety are best taught. This is common sense.

The Biden Administration is now withholding federal funds for elementary and secondary schools nationwide that have hunting or archery programs in their curriculum.

"This prohibition applies to all ESEA funds," a Department of Education spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "The prohibition went into effect immediately on June 25, 2022 and applies to all existing and future awards under all ESEA programs, including [21st Century Community Learning Centers]. The Department is administering the bipartisan law as written by Congress."

The Department of Education explained in a statement that its funding decisions were based on the plain text interpretation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which Congress passed and President Biden signed last year after a string of mass shootings. The agency's interpretation means funding for shooting sport activities earmarked under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 will be blocked across the country.

Overall, the administration's decision to withhold funds for such programs may impact thousands of schools and millions of American students….

The legislation included an amendment to an ESEA subsection listing prohibited uses for federal school funding. That amendment prohibits ESEA funds from helping provide any person with a dangerous weapon or to provide "training in the use of a dangerous weapon."

However, in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona earlier this month, Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., expressed concern that the agency is misinterpreting the provision which they said was included in the BSCA last year to withhold education funds for programs training school resource officers, not to preclude funding for hunting and archery classes. School resource officer training was funded under a separate provision.”

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“the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

I am not an attorney, but it should be clear to everyone that Congress or the President (or the “permanent” administrative state that actually runs the country) does not have the right to interfere with the second amendment via a Congressional bill, an executive order or the withholding of funds via the administrative state. The government would have to rescind the second amendment to the US Constitution in order to do so.

“A Well Regulated Militia”

The key words again being “well regulated.” In order for anything to be well regulated, it must require an educational component. A training component. How that training is to be accomplished or what that training might be, is up to the people. It is not up to Congress or the President or the Department of Education.

The best way to stop gun violence is to teach responsible ownership. The best time to teach people is when they are young. The best way to stop crime is to teach strong ethical and moral values, while people are young. Combining gun and archery education with responsible usage is common sense. This is how we limit gun violence - whether intentional, or crimes of passion.

The Republican party needs to provide funding (through their role as congressional and state legislators) for more gun and archery training programs, not less. This needs to start early, when minds are open and gun safety will become second nature. Hunters and gun owners who are well trained in how to use weaponry safely are a critical component of a “well regulated militia”.

The second amendment was not inserted to protect deer or deer hunters. It was included to enable resistance to potential future imposition of bullying, intimidation, lawless behavior as well as arbitrary and capricious tyranny; foreign or domestic.

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