Oct 16, 2016 | Constitution, Globalism, Liberty Articles
By Harold Pease, Ph. D
Not since Barry Goldwater in 1964 have I seen the establishment turn on one man with a unity and vehemence, as though from the very bowels of Hell, as it has Donald Trump. It’s a full court press consisting of big governments types from both political parties, the establishment press (all networks except Fox), Hollywood moguls such as Steven Spielberg, and the billionaire club notably: David Rockefeller, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. They all benefit by the billions of dollars from this alliance, and it’s in all of their interests to protect one another and destroy anyone who threatens this money and power flow, thus their warfare on Trump.
They are not all that concerned about the character of Trump—not even his disgusting video—as the character of Hillary, the one they do support, is far more flawed; nor do they particularly care about his sometimes hurtful comments. Bill Clinton is accused of having sexually assaulted women; even raping Juanita Broaddrick, while his wife used her power to punish his victims. As a defense attorney Hillary defended the rapist of a twelve-year-old child, even knowing the perpetrator was guilty, and we all saw the video of her laughing about her success in doing so. With a President Hillary the elite will stay in power so they use their power to minimize her many scandals and maximize Trump’s character flaws. It is as simple as this. They have even allowed her to garner perhaps $300 million after leaving broke from the Whitehouse. She is one of them.
So-called conservatives, like former president George H. Bush, plan to vote for so-called liberals (actually socialists) like Hillary Clinton in this election. Loyalty to this semi-secret combination is very strong.
Virtually all of these elites mentioned can be described as “globalists” or friendly to globalism, a term that emphasizes transferring power from nations to an international body such as the U.N. If successful the Constitution will not be the ruling document and the United States will not be a separate, independent, and sovereign nation. Such eventually spells the end of the United States and liberty as we know it. Even the phrase “open borders,” as used by Hillary (revealed in Wikileak’s October dump), calls for an “open border hemisphere,” implies the same.
What happened to political opposition to globalism? In fact, there never really was much after J.P. Morgan purchased the 25 largest newspapers in 1917 and personally placed an editor at each “paper to insure that all published information was in keeping with the new policy” determined by a new organization that he cofounded with John D. Rockefeller, The Council on Foreign Relations. The CFR is the most powerful special interest group working for world government in the U.S. The New York Times, now leading the charge against Trump, was the most powerful newspaper purchased.
The financial elite have always had consensus on preserving their power and wealth and have always owned most of the mainstream media and both major political parties. The big government, big business, and big media forces that now wish to drop an atomic bomb on Trump because he is opposing them on free trade, open borders, and America first, each sacred to them, are exposing themselves as having always been on the same side. As with Hillary and George H. Bush, they always have had a private message that differed from their public message.
This is why there is so little difference in foreign policy between Democrat and Republican presidents. They get their advisors from the same Wall Street special interest group, The CFR. They all support extensive foreign aid, policing the world with over 900 military bases in other lands, and continual wars without declaration or pre-established end. They all support international trade agreements that undermine the interests of our country and export jobs formerly held by Americans. Despite Republican opposition to open borders such was never effectively stopped when they were in power; the flood of illegals never ended. Finally, the establishment despises nationalism.
On domestic policy the elites all supported the bank bailouts and their management of the money supply through the bankers private Federal Reserve Bank, which they manage. Despite Republicans having the purse power they have allowed Barack Obama to double the national debt. None problem solve with the Constitution as first consideration. They all support problem solving on the federal or international level rather than the state level. Nor do they talk about limited government.
The establishment opposition to Trump certifies that he is not one of them. He will not be controlled by them, as have his predecessors from both parties. Nor will any special interest group control him. This may be the first time in 100 years that this is the case.
Now Trump has many “warts,” is not a particularly righteous man, is not politically polished or verbally refined and is sometimes offensive to those around him, but he still represents the best chance to break free from the 100-year-old elitist secret combination which now has a choke-hold on our government, the Constitution, and liberty itself. Certainly he has a much better chance of doing so than Barry Goldwater, the last presidential candidate that really tried. If he does not score a win this time there may not be another chance.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Oct 13, 2016 | Liberty Articles
WHAT FOLLOWS IS A MUST READ FOR ALL AMERICANS!!!!!
I concur with everything that is said in the Bennett article below. Knowing how much the establishment hates Donald Trump, it is likely that they will attempt to take him out any way they can. I have said this for months and strongly advise him to hire his own bodyguards at his own expense outside the Secret Service; people that he personally knows and trusts. I see him presently as the most marked man in America.
Dr. Pease
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PHD – Secretary of Education under Ronald Reagan
Cultural studies at the Heritage Foundation
William J. Bennett, Host of Bill Bennett’s Morning in America Show, is one of America’s most important, influential, and respected voices on cultural, political, and education issues. He has one of the strongest Christian worldviews of any writer in modern times.
What I See Happening In a Trump Presidency
By Bill Bennett
“They will kill him before they let him be president. It could be a Republican or a Democrat that instigates the shutting up of Trump.
Don’t be surprised if Trump has an accident. Some people are getting very nervous: Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Jon Corzine, to name just a few.
It’s about the unholy dynamics between big government, big business, and big media. They all benefit by the billions of dollars from this partnership, and it’s in all of their interests to protect one another. It’s one for all and all for one. Its a heck of a filthy relationship that makes everyone filthy rich, everyone except the American people. We get ripped off. Were the patsies. But for once, the powerful socialist cabal and the corrupt crony capitalists are scared. The over-the-top reaction to Trump by politicians of both parties, the media, and the biggest corporations of America has been so swift and insanely angry that it suggests they are all threatened and frightened.
Donald Trump can self-fund. No matter how much they say to the contrary, the media, business, and political elite understand that Trump is no joke. He could actually win and upset their nice cozy apple cart.
It’s no coincidence that everyone has gotten together to destroy The Donald. It’s because most of the other politicians are part of the a good old boys club. They talk big, but they wont change a thing. They are all beholden to big-money donors. They are all owned by lobbyists, unions, lawyers, gigantic environmental organizations, and multinational corporations like Big Pharmacy or Big Oil. Or they are owned lock, stock, and barrel by foreigners like George Soros owns Obama or foreign governments own Hillary and their Clinton Foundation donations.
These run-of-the-mill establishment politicians are all puppets owned by big money. But there’s one man who isn’t beholden to anyone. There’s one man who doesn’t need foreigners, or foreign governments, or George Soros, or the United Auto Workers, or the teacher’s union, or the Service Employees International Union, or the Bar Association to fund his campaign.
Billionaire tycoon and maverick Donald Trump doesn’t need anyone’s help. That means he doesn’t care what the media says. He doesn’t care what the corporate elites think. That makes him very dangerous to the entrenched interests. That makes Trump a huge threat to those people. Trump can ruin everything for the bribed politicians and their spoiled slave masters.
Don’t you ever wonder why the GOP has never tried to impeach Obama? Don’t you wonder why John Boehner and Mitch McConnell talked a big game, but never actually try to stop Obama? Don’t you wonder why Congress holds the purse strings, yet has never tried to de-fund Obamacare or Obamas clearly illegal executive action on amnesty for illegal aliens? Bizarre, right? It defies logic, right?
First, I’d guess many key Republicans are being bribed. Secondly, I believe many key Republicans are being blackmailed. Whether they are having affairs, or secretly gay, or stealing taxpayer money, the National Security Agency knows everything.
Ask former House Speaker Dennis Hastert about that. The government even knew he was withdrawing large sums of his own money from his own bank account. The NSA, the SEC, the IRS, and all the other three-letter government agencies are watching every Republican political leader. They survey everything. Thirdly, many Republicans are petrified of being called racists, so they are scared to ever criticize Obama or call out his crimes, let alone demand his impeachment. Fourth , why rock the boat? After defeat or retirement, if you’re a good old boy, you’ve got a $5 million-per-year lobbying job waiting. The big-money interests have the system gamed. Win or lose, they win.
But Trump doesn’t play by any of these rules. Trump breaks up this nice, cozy relationship between big government, big media, and big business. All the rules are out the window if Trump wins the Presidency. The other politicians will protect Obama and his aides but not Trump. Remember: Trump is the guy who publicly questioned Obama’s birth certificate. He questioned Obama’s college records and how a mediocre student got into an Ivy League university. Now, he’s doing something no Republican has the chutzpah to do. He’s questioning our relationship with Mexico; he’s questioning why the border is wide open; he’s questioning why no wall has been built across the border; he’s questioning if allowing millions of illegal aliens into America is in our best interests; he’s questioning why so many illegal aliens commit violent crimes, yet are not deported; and he’s questioning why our trade deals with Mexico, Russia and China are so bad.
Trump has the audacity to ask out loud why American workers always get the short end of the stick. Good question! I’m certain Trump will question what happened to the almost billion dollars given in a rigged no-bid contract to college friends of Michelle Obama at foreign companies to build the defective Obamacare website. By the way, that tab is now up to $5 billion. Trump will ask if Obamacare’s architects can be charged with fraud for selling it by lying. Trump will investigate Obama’s widespread IRS conspiracy, not to mention Obama’s college records. Trump will prosecute Clinton and Obama for fraud committed to cover up Benghazi before the election. How about the fraud committed by employees of the Labor Department when they made up dramatic job numbers in the last jobs report before the 2012 election?
Obama, the multinational corporations and the media need to stop Trump. They recognize this could get out of control. If left unchecked, telling the raw truth and asking questions everyone else is afraid to ask, Trump could wake a sleeping giant. Trump’s election would be a nightmare. Obama has committed many crimes. No one else but Trump would dare to prosecute. He will not hesitate. Once Trump gets in and gets a look at the cooked books and Obama’s records, the game is over. The goose is cooked. Holder could wind up in prison. Jarrett could wind up in prison. Obama bundler Corzine could wind up in prison for losing $1.5 billion of customer money. Clinton could wind up in jail for deleting 32,000 emails or for accepting bribes from foreign governments while Secretary of State, or for misplacing $6 billion as the head of the State Department, or for lying about Benghazi. The entire upper level management of the IRS could wind up in prison.
Obamacare will be de-funded and dismantled. Obama himself could wind up ruined, his legacy in tatters. Trump will investigate. Trump will prosecute. Trump will go after everyone involved. That’s why the dogs of hell have been unleashed on Donald Trump.
Yes, it’s become open season on Donald Trump. The left and the right are determined to attack his policies, harm his businesses, and, if possible, even keep him out of the coming debates. But they can’t silence him. And they sure can’t intimidate him. The more they try, the more the public will realize that he’s the one telling the truth.”
Oct 10, 2016 | Liberty Articles
By Harold Pease, Ph. D
A new video, certainly the most compelling on the subject of LaVoy Finicum’s death, has surfaced. A must see for every adult American. Forensics have conclusively documented and brought to question the corrupt practices of the FBI in the possible murder of Finicum and attempted murder of those in his truck. The following focuses only on their deplorable behavior on those in the truck. Video for what follows can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLIUDBrU9Cs.
Three bullets greeted the Finicum truck approaching the roadblock and another two while LaVoy Finicum exited his truck with his hands held high; this followed by another three killing him. The first attempt to get out of the vehicle by those remaining was made by 19 year old Victoria Sharp to see to Finicum lying on the ground. Instead of conversation with the FBI she was greeted with two gunshots forcing her to stay in the vehicle. Her exiting would have been the perfect opportunity to end the situation peacefully. Instead it was escalated by gunfire. It seemed the FBI and Oregon State Police did not want them to exit.
What follows is the summery of the five-minute video taped conversation in the vehicle as captured by Shawna Cox a participant. Please view the tape identified above for the entire conversation and the compelling forensic evidence of the entire event. Trapped in their vehicle it tells a hellish story of a man and two women (one still a teen) begging God to save them. This should never happen in this country and by our government. The five-minute portion reveals the following:
The passengers witness the killing of Finicum. They can’t see him after he had fallen and believe him dead. Ryan Bundy asks Victoria Sharp if she had been hit from the gunshots that hit the door as she tried to exit. She wasn’t.
Ryan Bundy discloses to the two women that he had taken a bullet. “I’ve been hit too.” “Its Okay.” “I am not bleeding.” This round could have been while they were approaching the roadblock just minutes earlier.
Passengers resort to prayer. The most powerful part of the video is when the occupants beg God to help them. Shawna Cox, “Please protect us God!! Please protect us!” “Please protect us.” “We need help!” “We need help!” “Please protect us!” “Please protect us!” “Please protect us.” “We need help!” “We need help!” “We need help!”
“Are they going to kill us all?” All passengers believed that, having been prevented from leaving the vehicle by gunfire, they were going to be killed. They speak of ducking lasers on them and plead with officers to stop firing on them. The most compelling phrases include: Cox, “I don’t dare get out cause they will shoot me.” “I don’t know what to do.” “Why do they keep shooting?” Bundy, “They want to take my head off.” Cox, “Are they going to kill us all?” “God!” “Please.”
OC gas now used by FBI. Passengers know that chemicals are now injected into the vehicle making it difficult to breath coughing and crying sounds were obvious. Sharp says, “I can’t breath!” “God!” “God!” Lasers are still on them.
Passengers again try to surrender. They look for something white to wave. It is uncertain if they found anything. Sharp yells to agents, “I surrender.”
Begging not to be shot the passengers leave the truck. Finally, at this point we get the first audible sounds from law enforcement other than gunfire. An officer yells, “Get out the left side door.” Sharp, “Okay!” “Don’t shoot!” Sharp to FBI as she exits, “Please don’t shoot me!!” FBI officer, “Come out with your hands up.” Even now there is no assurance from the FBI or Oregon State Police that she won’t be shot as had the driver Finicum. The other two follow.
The FBI testified under oath four major assertions. Commands were yelled by multiple officers including, “Let me see your hands” and “Step out of the vehicle.” The videotape inside the truck showed conclusively that no commands were given the first five minutes—only gunshots—and not until after the last gas round was fired. Passengers had every reason to believe that they were going to be killed, as had the driver Finicum. Notice Sharp’s request as she exited the vehicle, “Please don’t shoot me!!”
There was no response from the occupants of the truck, FBI agents asserted, but the occupants made numerous attempts to communicate only to be answered by repeated gunfire. FBI also asserted that those in the truck did not obey commands but no commands were given the first five minutes and only after OC rounds were used, at which there was immediate compliance, even though the occupants believed that they would be killed. That OC gas was used only after those in the truck ignored commands was another lie; OC gas was used before any commands.
Thanks to the Cox video we know precisely what was said and heard by the assaulted passengers that fully exposed the lies of the FBI and Oregon troopers involved. All this reportedly happened while those in the truck were in possession of two loaded .223-caliber semi-automatic riffles and a loaded .38-special revolver. The video also disclosed that not one in the truck suggested using the guns even after the driver had been killed and another of the original four taken a bullet.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Oct 4, 2016 | Constitution, Liberty Articles
By Harold Pease, Ph. D
Reports have been surfacing in the non-establishment press of a prison beating of Ryan Bundy by three guards charged with his care. His wife Angie had to take to the radio to get attention to the beating. Apparently Ryan still had a bullet in his arm placed there on January 26, eight months prior, by FBI agents while he was approaching their roadblock in the Oregon arrest. The driver having been fired upon left his truck with hands held high with the intent to surrender to the officers. He was shot dead. The only witnesses were the officers and those they arrested.
Eight months later, on August 9, Ryan was awakened at 5:30 a.m. and told of an impending court hearing. No advanced warning. The story as told by Angie, on the Bryan Hide Show, follows. “You have court.” “You have to come.” “Where are you taking me?” “Can I at least go upstairs and tell my brother what is going on so at least someone knows where I am?” They would not allow him to call his attorney or anyone. Ryan was escorted up the stairs to his brother Ammon. “They are taking me somewhere,” he told him. “They say to court.” “I just want you to know should I not come back.”
As Ryan turned to go back down the stairs the deputy shoved him. He grabbed the stair railing breaking his fall. Two other deputies coming up the stairs began beating on Ryan from below. Ryan’s injuries consisted of a dislocated wrist, broken thumb, and head bruised and cut open. Ammon viewing the attack began banging on his cell door attempting to bring attention to it so that there would be witnesses. Ryan was escorted to a cell in the court building across the street in Portland and left for the remainder of the day in solitary confinement. There was no court, as asserted by the officers.
It is possible that the prosecution wanted the evidence of the bullet received while Ryan was approaching the FBI roadblock removed, with no witnesses other than themselves, because they then could contest the vehicle being fired upon prior to the roadblock. According to Angie they would not allow pictures of the procedure and no paperwork regarding the removal would be given him. His refusal to agree to the “secret surgery” was the probable reason for the beating.
Ammon was able to get a call to his wife who phoned Angie Bundy, and she was able to get the word out to others. The resultant flood of concerned calls was believed to have stopped the so-called secret court hearing. Angie is uncertain whether Ryan received any medical treatment for injuries sustained by the deputy beating.
An in house hearing of the altercation was held August 12 with an employee of the jail serving as judge. Ryan was not allowed to give his side of the story. No attorney was present. No independent or outside source was provided. Cameras were everywhere but officers claim no footage existed of either the beating or the hearing.
Ryan was sentenced to a month in “segregation,” otherwise known as solitary confinement. His trial for initial imprisonment was to begin Sept. 7, but he was to remain in “segregation” until Sept. 17, making preparation especially difficult. It is a 24-hour per day lockdown with only 15 minutes a day to phone his family or shower or to do any other necessities. Angie did not mention whether he was allowed to contact his lawyer during solitary confinement.
Most Americans were sympathetic to the Cliven Bundy Nevada Standoff of April 14, 2016, when the federal government intentionally slaughtered Bundy cattle and proceeded to roundup and remove another 300 to 400 free ranging on public land managed by the Bundy’s for generations—even before the Bureau of Land Management (1946) existed.
For most that sympathy did not follow when Clivan’s two sons Ryan and Ammon decided to assist Dwight and Steven Hammond, father and son, in a similar confrontation with the BLM in Oregon for which they had completed their sentences. A year after their release both were rearrested, reconvicted and re-incarcerated because the federal government did not like the ruling of their own federal judge. The Hammons’ returned to prison peacefully but their neighbors were angry at the injustice.
The Bundy’s, having appreciated the support of the hundreds that had joined them in their previous attempt to protect their multi-generational use of land in Nevada, came in support of the Hammond’s. They soon found themselves in leadership positions in the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by Oregon ranchers on January 2. They mistook this action as supportive of getting back to the Constitution.
The nation viewed the Nevada Standoff as a defensive nature, an American family defending their home and property from federal tyranny. The takeover and occupation of the Refuge facility, although not inhabited at the time, was viewed as an aggressive act. The Randy Bundy trial begun Sept. 17, 2016, will decide the penalty for that aggression but it is difficult to justify the pre-trial Bundy beating by the Oregon Sheriff Department. We hope that exposure to this travesty will bring the sheriffs’ to justice. No one should be beat while under the care of the law.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Sep 26, 2016 | Constitution, Liberty Articles
By Harold Pease, Ph. D
I did not celebrate Constitution Day, September 17, primarily because I did not know how to do so. The Federal Government requires colleges to do something on that day to qualify for Title IV grant monies, which, if people really read the Constitution, they would find no authority for the grant.
Some years back I was asked to give suggestions for a meaningful program. The assigned administer and I pondered several options none of which seemed fitting or particularly meaningful. Still, we should do something—ignorance on this document is appalling and patriotism from those under 25 is virtually dead. Now athletes, making millions, because the document made it possible for their talent to flourish under freedom established by this document, refuse to stand when our national anthem is played. Many do not deserve the much-reduced freedom that is still left from the document.
Where do we start? Virtually no one reads this document anymore and neither major political party feels particular harnessed by it as the Founders intended. Few college courses require it being read in full and few universities have a class specifically dedicated to it—not even law schools. I know no one in my profession that actually had to read the entire document for a Ph. D.
Should I talk about the total disregard of the list in Article I, Section 8 from which the government is limited in making laws? The Founders created the list so that government could not rule wherever it pleased as in other countries. Or perhaps the 10th Amendment which strengthens the argument that all powers not specifically mentioned remain with the states and with the people which is flagrantly violated almost daily by a renegade, constitutionally inept, or ignorant congress.
Should I talk about the separation of powers created by the Founders where one branch made the law, another enforced the law, and yet a third adjudicated the law—a separation that we used to honor. If I did I would also have to talk about the present corruptness of the separation. For the last sixty years an unelected bureaucracy made most federal laws because Congress got lazy and allowed other organizations to fill in the details for them. Now called rules and regulations instead of laws, but they still exact a punishment if a business or individual is out of harmony. The Federal Register, wherein they are housed, adds a half-inch thick of new ones daily.
Also, I would have to mention that presidents make law by executive orders, most with no actual legislative authorization. Signing statements, popularized by the Bush Administration, distort laws passed by Congress by removing portions he disagreed with. The Obama Administration created a new level of administrators called “Czars” (purposely skirting Senate confirmation) to manage areas where no Constitutional authority exists—last count was 34. To all of this Congress remains silent to the abduction of her power.
The Supreme Court also makes law by ruling in such a way as to give existing law new meaning never envisioned in its origin; or by giving its approval to law having no constitutional base—as for example national health care. Justice Clarence Thomas admitted that some Justices attempt to ascertain what the Founders had in mind before ruling; others he admitted, “just make it up.” This certainly would be an interesting presentation. Would enough listen, or even care?
The notion of federalism that the states handle domestic issues and the federal government primarily foreign issues and that they are coequal (like a marriage) neither being master or slave to the other is gone; as is the Constitutional mandate that federal empowerment requires the consent of 3/4ths of the states as stipulated in Article V. This might be a good topic but it would take at least an hour to explain such and some quick student assemblage to fulfill the government mandated requirement would never do. Besides this notion of shared and equal was abandoned in the fifties and sixties and as a result the federal government clearly rules the states who now bow in near total obedience, their palms extended and tongues hanging out, for federal government grants in areas where the federal government has no constitutional authority to give.
States, like individuals, are addicted to the “free” money. Try telling a student body that the “free” college tuition advocated by beloved socialist guru Bernie Sanders and “me too” Hillary Clinton is totally unconstitutional without an amendment to the Constitution and see if you are allowed to finish your required presentation.
There are so many other topics one might cover. The distortion of the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution from an intended individual right to have a weapon, whether government approved or not, to only a collective right through a militia, now interpreted as the National Guard, which organization did not then exist. Or, the mutilation of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Amendments under the National Defense Authorization Act legislation passed by Congress Dec. 2012.
My point!!! The Constitution is a foreign language to most and this ignorance has resulted in our being out of harmony so long. Where do I start? The perversions are almost numberless. Colleges undoubtedly did something to qualify for the Title IV grant on Sept. 17, but were what they did meaningful? I very much doubt that any of the afore mentioned objections were mentioned.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
Sep 19, 2016 | Constitution, Liberty Articles
Harold Pease, Ph. D
If California is the pace setter state, what has just happened there could soon be at the doorstep of all state legislatures or imposed on all gun owners at the federal level. With one political party significantly dominating all branches of government in California, Democrats effectively control the state. With such power they have passed a litany of new laws on magazines, ammunition, gun registration, ownership and lending firearms. In essence they have shot (excuse the metaphor) so many bullets in the 2nd Amendment as to render it impotent.
All this legislation has resulted despite the clear language in the Constitution prohibiting government infringement on your right to bear arms. The anti-self defense people despise the following language therein found, “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.”
There exists no sentence in the Constitution that was more understood at the time. A militia then was the people and an armed populace was understood to be necessary for a free country in two ways: an armed populace could assist the military against foreign invasion and/or would be in place should the biggest enemy to liberty be ones own government as in the American Revolution against British tyranny.
Certainly, when enacted, there was no thought of restricting type of firearm, amount of ammunition, or where, or who could carry. So its placement as the second most valued freedom in the Bill of Rights had nothing to do with personal safety, or hunting, these were already assumed. Founding documents show it specifically placed right after freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly to make certain that these freedoms were never taken from us. It was aimed (no pun intended) squarely at the government should it become tyrannical as before under the British. But certainly we need have no fear of the government today? Given California’s new gun laws, which follow, perhaps we should.
Background checks on all ammunition purchases within the state will be required under Senate Bill 1235 effect in 2019. As patrons may make several purchases a year this is likely to overwhelm a background system already overwhelmed over gun purchases alone resulting in long delays. The new law also requires all ammunition vendors to submit sales reports to the California Department of Justice for the creation of an ammunition registration system. The anticipated effect for gun rights haters is that smaller outlets will cease selling ammunition because of all the paperwork. But this restriction gets worse, you may not give friends or family members ammunition without going first to a gun store for the gift to be processed. Hereafter it is a crime to “transfer more than 50 rounds of ammunition within a 30-day period.” Should you opt to purchase ammunition in another state you may not bring more than 50-rounds into California unless you are a licensed ammunition vendor.
Self defense advocates are now more restricted in gun ownership and use than ever before. Starting January 2017, “all semi-automatic centerfire rifles that do not have fixed magazines will be illegal if they have a bad ‘feature,’ such as a thumbhole stock, a telescoping or folding stock, or a pistol grip.” Moreover, such weapons may not be transferred as part of an inheritance. California already had a gun law prohibiting the lending of a firearm for more than 30 days between friends or family members. That too is now forbidden. Instead, you and your brother or friend must both go to a gun shop and submit to a background check and 10-day waiting period for him to use it and when it is returned both have to return to the store with a new background check and 10-day waiting period on you the lender.
In California gun magazine sales have been limited to ten rounds for the last 17 years but persons already in possession of magazines exceeding this number could keep them. Now, State Senate Bill 1446 requires the confiscation of all by July 1, 2017. To get rid of them owners may turn them in to law enforcement for destruction, destroy them themselves, remove them from the state and/or sell them to licensed firearms dealers.
Imagine how these restrictions might emasculate citizens in their ability to assist the military against a foreign invasion (as in the case of citizens stopping the British invasion in the Battle of Saratoga) and/or to oppose our own government should it become tyrannical as also happened once before. Our Founders did not deny future generations the same means of resisting tyranny that they used themselves.
All these new laws violate the Second Amendment, which placed bearing arms off-limits to government and used the strongest language possible, “shall not be infringed,” in doing so. If the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution is felt to be inadequate for the needs of today the only constitutional option available is another amendment abolishing this one and state approval of another as outlined in Article V of the Constitution, as was the case ending prohibition. Any legislation, state or federal, cannot undermine or destroy an amendment to the Constitution.
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.
