Declare Your Independence

Following is an article by the President of the NRA published in the July 2010 edition of American Rifleman. It is, in my judgment, one of the best commentaries I have seen regarding our rights (and what is happening to them) as citizens of these United States.

Please do not be put off by the author’s position because regardless of your opinion of guns, this article expertly describes how we are being treated by politicians in a variety of areas affecting our daily lives.

While reading the article I was reminded of another piece I recently read. It talked about the fact that the world has never lacked for people who believed that they had a right to change others—if fact a demand for power over other people’s lives. It said that we have learned through sad experience that few people can be trusted with such power. In fact, it continued, the world’s painful history shows that these power-seeking people are usually persons we should never want to have as good human models and that we have learned that few people are safe judges of what others ought to be.

Let us make some real changes and get the Government off our backs. Let’s see if we can convince a new bunch of politicos to do their job (protect the people, the borders and our National interests and enforce the laws that are already on the books) and otherwise leave us alone. We do not need new laws we need the
existing ones enforced.

Rick Adamson

OFFICIAL JOURNAL SPECIAL REPORT

president's column

By Ronald L. Schmeits, President

Declare Your Independence When You Vote Freedom First!

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."

This month, 234 years ago, our country's Declaration of Independence made some of the most profound and powerful politi­cal statements ever expressed.

Yet today, for the sake of partisan gain, many in the political class are attacking the eternal truths that frame our nation's founding documents as outdated, even dangerous.

So in honor of Independence Day, let's revisit some of the ideals at the core of this country's experiment in self-governance to consider what they mean in 2010 America.

The Declaration of Independence severed the colonies' dependence upon England, but the idea of individ­ual independence was central to the Founders’ thinking.

Being independent meant you were free to fend for yourself, trusted to exer­cise your freedoms and allowed to excel or fail as a result of your own decisions without interference.

Yet today, many politicians seem to want to make people less independent and more dependent upon govern­ment—for bailouts, buyouts and a variety of preferential treatments—and to provide for every need.

This is the opposite of what the Framers intended. Government should be depen­dent upon, and subject to—in the words of the Declaration of Independence—"the consent of the governed."

But when those roles are reversed— when politicians put the people in the position of being dependent upon and beholden to them—our freedoms invari­ably suffer.

That about the idea that government gets its authority from the people?

George Washington wrote, "The power under the Constitution will always be in the people." Indeed, our Constitution begins with the words "We the people."

Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories."

Yet today, many politicians are turn­ing their backs on the people.

When politicians say one thing during their campaigns, but do the opposite after they're elected, that says they don't care what the people think or want. It's the same arrogance King George and Parliament expressed for American colo­nists in the 1700s.

When politicians take away your abil­ity to make your own choices, that says they don't trust you with the freedom to make your own decisions.

We know better than you how you should live your life, they say. So they try to dictate everything from how you run your business to how much salt you have in your food.

We've seen politicians demonstrate all of these vices—elitist arrogance, distrust of freedom and disdain for the people—in the gun debate for decades.

They don't trust you to own or use a firearm safely or lawfully, so they seek to delay, diminish or deny your Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

To convince you to surrender your freedom, they promise you security. They say you don't need a gun because the police will always be there to protect you.

But as countless victims of crime through the ages could tell you, the promises of politicians didn't protect them any more than their own prayers and tears.

Sometimes you can't count on any­one but yourself. That's what indepen­dence means. In this case, the other side of the coin—being dependent—means being defenseless.

But you're not defenseless from arrogant politicians.

The sacred beauty and supreme genius of what the Founding Fathers built for us through the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights is that we the people will always have the tools and ability to retain control of our country.

This year that ability will be demon­strated with your vote and the vote of every American who wants to be free.

The danger we face is that between 20 and 25 million American gun owners are not registered to vote.

So between now and Election Day, November 2, be like Paul Revere. Sound the alarm to freedom's faithful.

Spread the word to your family, friends, fellow parishioners, co-workers, neighbors and anyone who will listen.

Then get them to do what their free­dom demands: Register to vote today. And on Election Day, Vote Freedom First!

Together, let's use our votes to restore to our country the purpose, promise and blessings of freedom that attended her birth 234 years ago this month.