Progeny of Liberty

Guest Blog 15 Jul

Today’s post is from Steven Lieberman, an attorney, firearms training expert, and co-owner of Artemis Defense Institute in Lake Forest. (Artemis)

The Progeny of Liberty

One of the more interesting aspects of being a weapons trainer is listening to clients talk about the Second Amendment. Contrary to what many people may think there is not really a flat out consensus on what it means….even among gun owners. 

Like religion there are fundamentalists … and others that see nuances and a need for limitations. I suspect most of the deviation in opinion surrounds itself around what exactly the

Second Amendment exists for in the first place.

Some of our clients see it as a means of protecting us from the Government. Others see it as a backfill for the military in case of foreign attack. Some see it as a codification of a right to self-defense. Others as a recognition of our ancestral hunting heritage. I tend to see it a little bit more broadly:

To oppose tyranny 

The Second Amendment exists to allow us to protect ourselves against tyranny. Tyranny comes in many forms. A foreign army forcing themselves upon us. A corrupt federal government that seeks to expand through force unjust laws beyond their chartered responsibilities. Tyrannical local authorities that have violated their responsibilities to their citizens. Criminals, that seek to use force or intimidation to profit from their victims.

Yes…Tyranny is not relegated exclusively to government misbehavior. Tyranny is the use of force rather than persuasion to compel an individual to surrender their status as a sovereign being to the will of another.

The robber, rapist, arsonist, abusive spouse, sexual predator….they are all first and foremost tyrants. They may have underlying issues that make them who they are…and that is potentially interesting…but from the immediacy of the victim… largely irrelevant.

Tyrant prophylaxis

Our Framers way back in 1787 recognized this…and they recognized a right, to protect ourselves against tyrants…regardless of where they manifested.

To ensure that that tyrants for the most part remained in the shadows they recognized a right for the people to keep and bear arms. This right…this responsibility…created a deterrent to would be tyrants, and continues to this day.

If all were angels 

If all of our brothers and sisters were angels there would be no need for a Second Amendment. Actually…there would be no need for a Constitution at all. But not all of those we encounter are in fact angels. We as a species exist on a continuum of human behavior, and even within our own existence we rise and fall on times and circumstances. 

Reliance on the assumption that those that seek to control us…regardless of their motivations … will always result in a benign result is folly. Just as we see the dynamics in our own social encounters we must assume that the same spectrum exists among those that potentially could do us harm.

Our defense against this is the realization among those same individuals that tyranny will be met with fierce resistance. That as a nation of sovereign individuals we WILL fight back against tyranny.

 

Our Framers recognized this…and gave us the tools to fight tyranny back in the 18th century…and God willing…through the centuries that lie ahead.