Aguila Blanca,
I did quite a bit of research after Sandy hook. I decided quite some time ago the Republic was in jeopardy due to this Nation's failure to educate it's young on the ideals embodied in our Constitution. Feel free to use any of the below to aid you.
I had hoped if President Trump had earned a second term, he could be convinced to send a copy of the Constitution to every household. Too late for that now...
John Ordronaux, Constitutional Legislation In The United States: Its Origin, And Application To The Relative Powers Of Congress, And Of State Legislatures (1891) “This was recognized by the laws of the Plymouth Colony, which required that “each person for himself have piece, powder, and shot—viz., a sufficient musket or other serviceable piece for war, with bandeleroes, swords, and other appurtenances for himself, and each man-servant he kept able to bear arms.”
Federalist No. 28, sixth paragraph “If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state.”
Federalist No. 46 “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes.”
The Honorable St. George Tucker in his annotated edition of Blackstone, Constitutional Appendix stated "This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty The right of self defence is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. In England, the people have been disarmed, generally, under the specious pretext of preserving the game: a never failing lure to bring over the landed aristocracy to support any measure, under that mask, though calculated for very different purposes. True it is, their bill of rights seems at first view to counteract this policy: but the right of bearing arms is confined to protestants, and the words suitable to their condition and degree, have been interpreted to authorise the prohibition of keeping a gun or other engine for the destruction of game, to any farmer , or inferior tradesman, or other person not qualified to kill game. So that not one man in five hundred can keep a gun in his house with out being subject to a penalty." (Ed. Emphasis added)
William Rawle’s 1825 A View of the Constitution of the United States of America had this to say in regard to the 2nd Amendment "The corollary, from the first position, is, that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to congress a power to disarm the people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general pretence by a state legislature. But if by any blind pursuit of inordinate power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both. In most of the countries of Europe, this right does not seem to be denied, although it is allowed more or less sparingly, according to circumstances. In England, a country which boasts so much of its freedom, the right was secured to protestant subjects only, on the revolution of 1688; and it is cautiously described to be that of bearing arms for their defence, “suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law.” An arbitrary code for the preservation of game in that country has long disgraced them. A very small proportion of the people being permitted to kill it, though for their own subsistence; a gun or other instrument, used for that purpose by an unqualified person, may be seized or forfeited. Blackstone, in whom we regret that we cannot always trace the expanded principles of rational liberty, observes however, on this subject, that the prevention of popular insurrections and resistance to government by disarming the people, is oftener meant than avowed, by makers of forest and game laws. This right ought not, however, in any government, to be abused to the disturbance of the public peace."
Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story authored Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States in 1840, and provided this analysis of the 2nd Amendment. "The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.
And yet, though this truth would seem so clear, and the importance of a well regulated militia would seem so undeniable, it cannot be disguised that, among the American people, there is a growing indifference to any system of militia discipline, and a strong disposition, from a sense of its burdens, to be rid of all regulations. How it is practicable to keep the people duly armed, without some organization, it is difficult to see. There is certainly no small danger that indifference may lead to disgust, and disgust to contempt; and thus gradually undermine all the protection intended by this clause of our national bill of rights." (Ed. Emphasis added)
Best of luck with gaining the attention of a meaningful portion of our citizenry.
