Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial: Founders’ vision vs ours

[Tangle]

This is an excerpt from an editorial by Walter Williams in the 11-Jul-2010 edition of the Chattanooga Time Free Press newspaper. Mr. Williams is submits editorials daily and is by every sense of the word, a conservative, and his editorials always appear on the conservative editorial page.

This is certainly an interesting and enlightening perspective of the Second Amendment. He expressed other points in the editorial as well but I only included what applies to the 2A here:

Note: I had to type this in; I hope there aren’t typos.

Founders’ vision vs ours

The celebration of our founders’ 1776 revolt against King George III and the English Parliament is over. Let’s reflect how the founders might judge today’s Americans and how today’s Americans might judge them…

How might our founders have commented about last week’s U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding our rights to keep and bear arms? Justice Samuel Alito, in writing the majority opinion, said, “Individual self-defense is the central component of the Second Amendment.” The founders would have responded “Balderdash!” Jefferson said, “What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.”

George Mason explained: “(T)o disarm the people (is) the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” Noah Webster elaborated: “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed. … The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealously will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.”

Contrary to Alitos’s assertion, that the central component of the Second Amendment is to protect ourselves from Congress, not street thugs.

Today’s Americans have contempt for our founders’ vision. I’m sure our founders would have contempt for ours.

[DefensiveCarry.com]