To keep and bear arms

Whenever there's a tragedy involving gun use, Bill Clinton, Al Gore,
the gun-control lobby and the news media seize it as another opportunity
to exploit the emotions of uninformed American people for political
gain.

Unfortunately, most Americans don't have the foggiest notion of why
the Framers of the Constitution, through the Second Amendment,
guaranteed our right to keep and bear arms. Our leftist establishment
would like us to believe the Second Amendment was written to protect our
duck- and deer-hunting rights. Don't take my word -- read what was
actually said during the constitutional debates.

Thomas Jefferson said, "No man shall ever be debarred the use of
arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep
and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against
tyranny in government." Tench Coxe, assistant secretary of the treasury
(1789), said, "The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of
either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it
will ever remain, in the hands of the people."

Noah Webster said, "The supreme power in America cannot enforce
unjust laws by the sword, because the whole body of the people are
armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops."

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In Federalist Paper No. 46, James Madison said the Constitution
"preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the
people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate
governments, to which the people are attached ... forms a barrier
against the enterprises of ambition. ..."

Numerous sentiments like these were expressed during the
constitutional debates. Here's my question to you: Which one of those
statements sounds like the Framers had deer- and duck-hunting in mind
when they wrote the Second Amendment? The Framers gave us the Second
Amendment so we could have at least a last-ditch fighting chance against
government encroachment on our liberties.

Who are the people who desperately want to disarm law-abiding
Americans? The answer doesn't require rocket science to figure that one
out. The strongest advocates of gun control are the very people who seek
greater and greater control over our lives. They're the people who want
to take away our rights to property, freedom of speech and religion, and
other liberties. They're cowards and want to feel safe doing so. They
figure if we're first disarmed they can trample over our liberties with
impunity.

If these people had guts and a modicum of respect for the
Constitution, they'd seek repeal of the Second Amendment. Instead, they
pursue an agenda to repeal it by stealth. The latest attempts are the
suits against arms manufacturers for crimes committed with guns.

Last week, gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson caved in to this pressure
by signing a voluntary gun-control agreement with the Clinton-Gore
administration. That "voluntary" agreement seeks to force arms
manufacturers to do what today's laws do not require and create an
"oversight commission" to ensure compliance.

Arms manufacturers Glock Inc. and Browning refused to sign the
agreement. In response, New York's Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told
them, "If you do not sign, your bankruptcy lawyers will be knocking at
your door." That kind of official threat is an indication of just how
bold and emboldened America's tyrants have become in the wake of our
acquiescence -- threatening destruction of people who refuse to go along
with "voluntary" agreements.

We Americans have set dangerous precedents. We can rest assured that
those pushing for gun control have no intention of stopping short of
total gun confiscation. At some point, we who cherish liberty must
summon the courage of our forefathers and tell America's tyrants, "Give
me liberty, or give me death!" The longer we wait, the greater the
ultimate bloodshed.