I have, with great interest, watched the debate over the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. I have read and heard much said that could not be further from the truth, and that really doesn’t surprise me since, over the past couple of decades, schools have felt it more important to teach how to put on a condom rather than learning true and accurate U.S. history.
This is the Second Amendment: “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.” Folks, it is all one sentence.
Why was it written? The Second Amendment was not written to ensure the right of the people to hunt. It was written to ensure that the people would be the last line of defense and that they would be armed in a manner, at their own expense, to be the last line of defense against a foreign invading army, such as what happened in 1812. This was understood during both World Wars I and II, when the militia was used, carrying their own arms, to patrol the coast. It was also written to keep the government in line. It has certainly failed in the latter. Let us not allow it to fail doing the former if the need comes.
The reason for the Second Amendment was understood to the Marine Corps command when, in the ’60s in both noncommissioned officer school and officer basic, men were taught that in the event of an invasion, if the military fell, officers and NCOs who survived should retreat back into the country and organize and lead the militias.
Does the U.S. Congress know this? Of course they do. How else could they swear to uphold it if they did not understand it?
So, the question is: Why does the United States Congress, with very few exceptions, want to disarm the very last line of defense of this nation? Our nation has never had more enemies. China has said it will go to war with us, not if, but when. Russia has said the same. North Korea has threatened to nuke us. God only knows how many Muslim nations are waiting in line to join with whoever attacks us first.
Yet, our congressional delegation – along with the majority of the U.S. Senate and literally all of the Democrats and many of the old guard Republicans in the U.S. House – want to pass legislation to disarm us, the nation’s last line of defense. Why? Who do they work for that they want us unarmed in the face of an invasion?
Jesus told us almost 2,000 years ago: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Just as that is a timeless truth, so is the truth the Founding Fathers gave us in our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Rev. Bob Celeste
