by Vilmos Levay
vlevay@msn.com

As member of the NRA, I am sent, from time to time, TAG (Truth About Gun owners) Polls to fill out and send back to the NRA who, ostensibly, sends the results to my Congressman and two Senators. This is fine and dandy, and I certainly appreciates the efforts the good folks in the NRA put in, in my behalf. The questions are rather straightforward (or so I thought until now), and the answers are conveniently arranged in a "Yes", "No", or "Unsure" multiple choice format.

This time, though, reading question #9, I came to a screeching halt upon discovering the nature of its subtle, almost unnoticeable ambiguity. Question #9 asked: 

"Do you believe the Second Amendment to the Constitution protects your personal right to own and use firearms"? 

Now some readers will say that the answer to that is an obvious "Yes", to which I reply with an unqualified, resounding "No"!

Neither the Second Amendment to the Constitution, nor any other of the Amendments to the Constitution, nor can the Constitution itself either "protect", "grant" or "guarantee", as some would claim, ANY of an individual's personal rights as a Sovereign American Citizen.

WHAT? some readers may vocalize in disbelief.

But think about it: the Constitution, and the Bill if Rights it contains, is nothing more than a piece of paper.

Let's analyze it: Article IX states that 

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people". 

I ask, then: where therein, or any other section of the Constitution, is there a mention of "protect", "grant" or "guarantee" a right by the Constitution?

Ladies and Gentlemen: it is plain, concise, and quite clear that the Constitution MERELY enumerates the rights of the Citizens, whatever they might be. SOME of these rights are "mentioned", but the unmentioned ones are just as important, of course, as stated. And how do we know what these rights are or who "grants" them, as others would say, to us?

That is also very plain, concise and quite clearly alluded to in the first sentence of the second paragraph of "The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America":

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

So there you have it. ALL the rights of a Citizen come from his Creator: not the Constitution, not the government, not another man, but God Himself!

Well then, if the Constitution MERELY enumerates the rights which have now been established as coming from God, who or what protects, or guarantees them? That, again, is very plain, concise and quite clearly contained in the second sentence of the second paragraph of "The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America".

It states 

"That to secure these rights Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their JUST powers from the consent of the governed."

So there you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen: your right to keep and bear arms is SUPPOSED to be protected, guaranteed, by the Government of the United States of America, and NOT by the Constitution -- as unbelievable as that might seem to some!

Furthermore, question #9, for "reference" purposes, came with the following footnote 

"Fact: Lawyers for the Clinton-Gore Administration recently argued before a federal court that the Second Amendment DOES NOT extend an individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms". 

In light of the above analysis, the Clinton-Gore Administration argued CORRECTLY!

Point being that if we go around claiming that the Second Amendment extends, guarantees, protects, etc, an individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms, when all it really does is enumerate it, then WE WILL LOSE THE ARGUMENT AND THE RIGHT WITH IT!

Now you know why I could not, in all honesty, mark the "Yes" box to the afore mentioned question as presented! Maybe I'll mark the "Unsure" box...

Ladies and Gentlemen: think of the Constitution as NOT a document which "protects", or "grants" or "guarantees" rights, but more in terms of a RESTRAINING ORDER placed upon the Government of the United States of America, in order to keep it from VIOLATING the rights with which we were ALL created, born!

Oh, and by the way: what, exactly, is government? Government is We, the People! So what we have is a restraining order placed on the People, admonishing them to NOT use the vast powers of government to violate the People's rights, by way of [unConstitutional] legislation, regardless of how magnanimous the motive presented. You know: "do it for the children"? The logical conclusion being that it is none other than We, the People who can actually protect and guarantee these rights that we claim to be ours. No one else will, nothing else can. 

The third sentence from the second paragraph of "The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" is, in this writer's humble opinion, just as important as, if not graver than, the previous two in 

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the RIGHT of the People (their duty)* to alter or to 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." *(this author's opinion)

Some among the readers may consider that the author might be advocating the overthrow of our government...not at all! Simply quoting the words of those who actually did!