The right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the
Constitution. It was meant to ensure our self defense, defense of the
family, and defense against tyranny,
conferred on the individual and the community by the Creator to
safeguard life, liberty and property and that of his family, as well as
to help preserve the independence of the nation.
Though this right may not properly be infringed upon nor denied, as
responsible and conscientious American citizens, it is our duty to
question to what extent are valid today the contemporarily noble
principles upon which our forefathers founded this great country...
I wish to emphasize that the topic of gun control is a part of a larger issue - The big issue, and the core of the conflict and controversy, is how we as citizens cope with one another in the modern age. How does a citizen - who is born into a hostile world, raised in violent surroundings without family and community values - choose to resolve arguments? With violence. When every American is instilled with family values and given a fair chance to take part in the American parade of prosperity, the tragedies we have witnessed with the misuse of guns will in the future be avoided.
Guns are not this nation's problem! Indeed, it is violence. As a nation, we must focus on the eradication of violence, whether by fist, stick, stone, knife, or gun. It is time to see through the veil of fear that makes us believe that taking away guns will eliminate this nation's crime and violence problem. It is not guns that cause the problems; it is people. It is people that should be dealt with if gun usage is abused. I strongly support state and/or local legislation that gives mandatory and/or a stiffer penalty for gun related crimes.
Governmental talk of limiting or even revoking the right for citizens to bear arms continues to spread across the country and is unconstitutional. We must take steps to ensure that our government never gets absolute power over our lives. As the saying goes: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is this right of choice that protects us all.
The most basic and profound responsibility that our culture - any culture - has, is raising its children. We are failing that responsibility, and the extent of our failure is being measured in the deaths, and injuries of our kids in the schoolyard and on the streets of our neighborhoods and communities.
Our children are killing each other, and they are killing themselves.
Primary responsibility lies with the family. As a country, we are not parenting our children. We are not adequately involving ourselves in our children's lives, the friends they hang out with, what they do with their time, the problems they are struggling with. This is our job, our paramount responsibility, and most unfortunately, we are failing. We must get our priorities straight, and that means putting our kids first. But, parents need help.
This is an extraordinarily complex problem. However, at its core, is a collapse of the value shaping institutions of our society. Our public schools are restricted from teaching basic morals and values. Stresses on families - the most basic value building institution in our society - the demands of two income households, and the breakdown of the traditional family structure are undermining our ability to raise decent and moral children. The marginalizing of the critical role of religion, of churches and synagogues, in our modern society contributes to a youth culture devoid of moral responsibility and accountability. All of these factors conspire to disconnect our children from humanity, and are turning some of them into killers.
Our homes ,our families and our children's minds are being flooded by a tide of violence. This dehumanizing violence pervades our society: our movies depict graphic violence; our children are taught to kill and maim by interactive video games; the Internet, which holds such tremendous potential in so many ways, is tragically used by some to communicate unimaginable hatred, images and descriptions of violence, and "how-to" manuals on everything from bomb construction to drugs.
With the pressures of this modern society - the emphasis on technology, the demand for performance, the fast pace of events - our children seem to be increasingly isolated from family and peers.
If we are to turn this tide of youth violence, we must examine all of these factors together. We must develop a comprehensive understanding of how these factors interrelate to produce a child capable of the shocking violence unfolding in our streets and school yards.
And we have got to take on the NRA strongly and pass new gun control legislation not aimed at hunters and sportsmen, but at the handguns that are causing so much distress in our country. I support a complete ban on junk guns, assault weapons, and yes, I support photo license I.D.'s for the purchase of all new handguns when somebody goes down to the gun store.
Some people are killed or injured with guns and some law-abiding people want to use guns for self-defense. How do you blend the two? Here's my stand:
Make sure the weapons are designed safely with trigger locks.
Look at a weapon the way you look at a car. You've got to know
how to handle it. You should be licensed.
There are certain weapons that should be banned.
Support the current ban on assault weapons.
Prohibit juveniles from possessing assault weapons.
Ban imports of high-capacity ammunition clips.
Raise the minimum age for possessing a handgun from 18 to 21.
Require that trigger locks be sold with handguns.
Require photo licensing for handgun purchases.
Limit gun purchases to one per month and require
a three-day waiting period.
Require manufacturers and federally licensed sellers to report
sales to a state authority.
If a gun is used for a crime, the criminal is the one who should be punished, not the gun. It is like someone driving a car through a red light: are you going to restrict the use of all cars because one car broke the law? How about just that make and model of the car? No! How ignorant could a person be to come to these conclusions. You go, of course, after the driver of the car and discipline them, not the car.
Horrific crimes committed with guns are not committed by honest, hard-working wage earners. Such crimes that have reached epidemic proportions are committed by malcontents and idiots that are products of the atheistic-socialist system of education over the last fifty years, and the deliberate destruction of all meaningful employment through destruction of the industrial engineering and manfacturing industries of this nation during that same interval of time.
Too many people treat the Constitution like they treat the Bible: they try to twist the words around to make it mean what they want it to mean. To truly understand the Second Amendment, you need a dictionary from the eighteenth century and a copy of The Federalist Papers.
Back then, a "militia" was any group of law-abiding, able-bodied men of adult age. "Well regulated" meant well trained. It did not mean that the government could come down with a lot of regulations as some in the media claim. "The security of a free state" does not mean that this amendment was passed only to provide for the states' National Guards. The founding Fathers knew that true freedom rested with individuals. Should the Federal Government continue with its denial of your civil rights, do not count on your state government to come to your aid.
If the second amendment were written today in plain English it would read: "In order to keep their freedoms, people will need to arm themselves, organize and train. Therefore, the right to own weapons of any kind shall not be minimized."
I am not blind to the horrors of Littleton, Colorado, or any other incident that has made the news of late. But there will always be lunatics out there,and there will always be authoritarian types who use incidents like this to place even more controls over us: controls that simply won't work to prevent further tragedies from happening!
Historically, governments that disarm their citizens become oppressive to their people. As president, I will ensure that all our inalienable rights are protected and/or restored.
Our forefathers were learned men who studied the lessons of history. They were greatly concerned about creating a government that would someday try to overpower its people; therefore they wrote in safeguards to ensure people would always be free from an oppressive government. Thus, the Bill of Rights was born. History had long shown that oppressive governments would first disarm its citizens.
Never should we allow the right to bear arms be taken from honest and peaceful citizens. As I fight to protect the right to own a gun, I will also pray that our society grows ever more peaceful, and that soon guns will be only collector's items and relics of times gone by when problems were solved through violence. I believe as Thomas Jefferson did, "The next revolution in this country will not be fought with guns and ammo, but with pen and paper." Only truth will make us forever free.
Thank you very much. May God bless each and every one of you!
back to Issues >>
|
