The Second Amendment and the Violent Overthrow of Government

"It is a happy circumstance in human affairs that evils which are not cured in one way will cure themselves in some other." --Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson wrote to George Washington in 1796: "One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them."

James Madison stressed the necessity of arms to the security of the states from a potentially tyrannical federal government in Federalist No. 46 (1788). Madison wrote: "Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of."

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to his friend, Peter Carr, in 1785, wrote: "A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks."

John Adams in 1787 wrote in A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States: "To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, counties or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man; it is a dissolution of the government. The fundamental law of the militia is, that it be created, directed and commanded by the laws, and ever for the support of the laws."

Samuel Adams stated, "The Constitution shall never be construed ... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."

The militia is you and I.

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Recently, a liberal accused me, and one of the writers that submits to my site (J.J. Jackson) of promoting the violent overthrow of the federal government. Tom's unhealthy nationalistic love of government renders him unable to comprehend the complexities of the American form of government, or the mechanisms given to us by the Founding Fathers so that we may throw off the shackles of tyranny should such an action become necessary. The 2nd Amendment was specifically provided for the purpose of keeping the federal government fearful of an armed populace so that the government continues to protect liberty, not serve its own tyrannical self interests.

Did not the Founding Fathers use a violent revolution to dismiss the tyranny of the British Empire? Was it not the violence of an insurrection through Shays' Rebellion that encouraged the founders to hold the Constitutional Convention in the first place?

Historically, the violent force of revolution has an important role in the forging of this nation.

This is not to say that violence is the first choice when it comes to changing the government back to its original principles. Of course violence is a last resort when faced with a rising tyranny in our federal government. But if all other alternatives have been exhausted, have we any other choice?

The Founding Fathers gave us a number of options in dealing with a governmental system that refuses to act in accordance with the founding principles set forth by the U.S. Constitution. A violent revolution is one of those options, but apparently the least desirable of the choices.

The U.S. Constitution provides for us means by which we may use a peaceful revolution (voting, peaceful assemblies like the Tea Party, use of our freedom of speech and press), nullification (states ignoring unconstitutional federal laws), an Article V. Convention (for the purpose of the states proposing amendments to the Constitution), and a violent revolution to remove a tyrannical system of governance should such take place at the federal level.

One must consider for a moment that if the Germans had realized what was coming, and used violent revolution to throw out the Nazis, history would have had a very different result.

If push comes to shove, there may very well be blood in the streets here in America. If the federal government initiates bloodshed, it is only reasonable that the patriots of this nation fight back.

Violence is not preferred, but if necessary, it is on the table as an option.

Note: This post is in response to Neurotic Liberal Tom's threat to send to editors, should I decide to run for office again, that he believes I support violence against the government. He is typical of liberals, promising personal attacks and sabotage against my endeavors simply because he disagrees with me politically. Rather than face the reality that his beloved authoritarian ideology of liberalism is tearing apart America, he would rather attempt to silence someone like myself fighting for freedom and the American Way.

Tom reminds me of those Germans that allowed Nazism to gain a grip on Germany because of the unwillingness to stand up to the government tyranny that was rising under Hitler. If, when Hitler demanded the registration of all guns in Germany, so that he may later confiscate the weapons, the German people had used their guns to stop the fascist takeover of Germany, millions of lives would have been saved, and history would not have had to endure the tyranny of Nazism.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.

First they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

- Famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary