“Your Gun Rights. . . .”

A while back I got a comment from a friend (who is liberal) from High School and his comment was that it did not matter who won the election this year because “your gun rights are already gone”

It took a while for me to see how much this comment or I should say this way of thinking shows how far down the path to failure this country had gone. . . . My gun rights? What happened to OUR gun rights?

We as shooters may have already lost. We need to find a way to get folks to stop thinking about who’s rights are who’s out of the Bill of Rights. Folks, the Bill of Rights applies to all of us. Any of these rights that are taken are taken from all of us!

Has our schooling gotten so bad that we don’t see our rights as OURS but yours or mine? We need the kids and everyone else to understand that all the rights are ours and if we want to keep them we will need to watch and fight any attempt to place limits on “our” rights.

A quick reminder from Wikipedia:

• First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

• Second Amendment – Right to keep and bear arms.

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.

• Third Amendment – Protection from quartering of troops.
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

• Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

• Fifth Amendment – due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain.
No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

• Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

• Seventh Amendment – Civil trial by jury.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

• Eighth Amendment – Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

• Ninth Amendment – Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

• Tenth Amendment – Powers of states and people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.


Now folks, these are the rules the Founding Fathers set up. The Constitution of the USA would not have been ratified without these amendments made to it, they are that important. These rights apply to all of us, no if ands or buts. If you let them take away one of them because you don’t thing it is “yours” you are wrong and you are loosing your right.

We have already started down the path of limiting our rights under the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and you could probably argue for losses under the Ninth and Tenth too. . . We pay so little attention to what our government does that they have managed to renew the Patriot act, they have added powers to wire tap and take citizens prisoner as enemy combatants to avoid the courts. They have taxed the heck out of us and built up a welfare state that was never even thought possible when the country was founded. They would have gone nuts thinking about the government taxing folks to pay out welfare.

As we continue down the slippery slope folks keep it in mind, they are OUR RIGHTS and if we don’t stand up to protect them and make sure we vote in people that understand that they are our rights then we will surely lose them. We need to vote for small government, less welfare, and fewer Democrats with their big government programs to buy votes. . . .