“You don’t NEED a {insert firearm} to hunt deer….”

“You don’t need an AR-15 to hunt deer”
It’s bad enough to see that  in forums and on Facebook, but I understand not everybody pays attention to history. I know the 2nd amendment doesn’t actually pertain to a right to hunt game, but I’ll forgive friends that have been indoctrinated by the media to believe otherwise. That’s curable.

I do NOT however share that spirit of forgiveness when it comes to elected officials. I’ve seen variations on that statement from a lot of them lately. I’d like to think there was a time we held the people to DC to a slim standard of education, at least on the topic of the constitution they take an oath to uphold.

As recently as 1960 a presidential candidate (and soon thereafter, president) was not so misleading (or misled on the issue, and knew exactly why the 2nd amendment was created.

~ Sen. John F. Kennedy, Know Your Lawmakers, Guns, April 1960

“By calling attention to ‘a well regulated militia,’ the ‘security’ of the nation, and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms,’ our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.”

Kennedy, unlike members of his party today, was educated on the constitution. Sadly, that education seems to be in short supply lately.

SO… how did he KNOW that… couldn’t he be wrong?
Kennedy was not guessing, nor repeating what he’d heard. When our country was new and the constitution was as yet un-passed… the founding fathers of our country had to explain it to the public in order to get it passed. Lacking radio, TV, or the internet to address the public, they committed the information to documents written to the public, explaining the setup they had created for the country.

The collected documents used to sell the American public on the constitution were written by the same guys that helped create the constitution. The docs are available today in a collection known as The Federalist Papers. EVERY American should read them, and every politician should be tested on the topic before they are allowed to step foot into the House, the Senate, or the White House.

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Never move a fence until you know why it was put there
The old saying above is not just pithy farmerish-sounding wisdom… it is sage advice. It is important to know why something was put there before you remove it. Our founders were just men, but they thought the process of building a nation through thoroughly. Most were firmly against a standing army, but they mention that should one be established later, and be loyal only to the federal government, it should not be able to exercise tyranny because the public was armed and vastly outnumbered said standing army.

So despite the conventional wisdom of today, people that say the 2nd amendment to the bill of rights is there to protect the others are NOT boorish redneck heathens… they are saying the same thing Kennedy recognized as being the intent of our founders.

But hey, the constitution is a 200 year old piece of paper
If you think the consitution is “outdated”, and today’s society calls for a new guideline where only the military (and everyone that is willing to disobey laws) should be armed, I disagree with you but you have every right to that opinion. That said, you do NOT, absolutely DO NOT… have the right to simply decide we can now forget about the 2nd amendment. Not you, not the men in Congress, not even dear Barrack H Obama.

The only way to remove a portion of the constitution is to amend it. PERIOD
If anyone feels strongly about doing away with the second amendment I encourage them to try and get the appurtenant legislation passed and ratified. Until then, it is the law of the land and it protects my right to bear arms. Lots of luck to you in your effort to get it repealed, but trying to get rid of it any other way is illegal. We are a nation of laws, and under no circumstance need we tolerate attempts to do an end run around the constitution.

So NO, you do NOT need an AR-15 to hunt deer
You also don’t need it to iron a shirt, change a flat tire, or watch TV… but it would be extraordinarily handy in the potential use the 2nd amendment presupposed. If you do not approve of that reason… take it up with the founders.