“The Great Object Is that Every Man Be Armed”

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UPDATE 4.21.23: House Republicans have passed a Parents Bill of Rights measure that would inform parents about the curriculums their children are expected to learn in school. The Biden administration opposes the bill and will likely veto it if it makes it through the Senate. That’s why States’ Rights are just as important today as ever. State legislatures can protect children and parents by creating school transparency. NBC News reports:

The House passed GOP-sponsored legislation Friday aimed at providing parents with more information about their children’s education, marking the congressional Republicans’ foray into culture war battles taking place across the country over what is being taught in public schools.

Lawmakers approved the bill in a 213-208 vote after voting on several amendments.

The Parents Bill of Rights Act would require public school districts to publicly post information about curricula for students, including providing parents with a list of books and reading materials available in school libraries. The congressional action comes as some elected Republicans in states across the country have been intensifying a push to ban some books or pressed for limits on teaching about issues related to racial equality, sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

Under the measure, schools would be required to offer at least two in-person parent-teacher meetings annually, and school boards would be required to hear feedback from parents about students’ education.

Schools would have to publicly disclose their district budgets, as well as the budgets of each school, including revenues and expenditures. They would also have to notify parents of violent activity occurring at schools or at events sponsored by schools.

And in an effort to protect students’ privacy, the bill would require parents to consent before any medical exams, including mental health or substance use disorder screenings, take place at school.

Congressional Democrats have voiced opposition to the bill, and the White House has also rejected it in a statement of administration policy.

“The administration does not support H.R. 5 in its current form because the bill does not actually help parents support their children at school,” the statement said. “Moreover, instead of making LGBTQI+ students feel included in their school community, it puts them at higher risk. The administration strongly supports actions that empower parents to engage with their children’s teachers and schools, like enabling parents to take time off to attend school meetings. Legislation should not politicize our children’s education.”

UPDATE 5.13.22: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, probably the most liberal bench in America, has ruled that a law in California prohibiting adult Americans under the age of 21 from buying semiautomatic firearms is unconstitutional. Fox News reports:

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law violates the Second Amendment and that a San Diego judge should have blocked what is called the “an almost total ban on semiautomatic centerfire rifles” for young adults.

“America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote in the 2-1 ruling. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.”

UPDATE 3.7.22: After watching what’s going on in Ukraine, no one can deny that an armed, determined populace can defend itself with dignity against an aggressor. 

Originally posted on March 19, 2018.

The above words were delivered by Patrick Henry in a speech before the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 5 June 1778.

Thomas Jefferson said, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of guns.”

George Washington believed, “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined.”

George Mason cautioned, ”(T)o disarm the people… [I]s the most effectual way to enslave them.”

Samuel Adams warned Americans that “the Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience: or to prevent the people of the United States …from keeping their arms: or to raise standing armies.“

Notice that in all the above advice (mandates) from our Founders, neither the type of firearm nor the word militia as it might relate to firearms is mentioned. What is clearly noted is that standing armies were not part of the constitutional framework.

As I discuss campus safety with many Americans, I find a great schism between the left and the right. Without blinking, the left points to guns as the target. The right aims at the gunners.

I believe there is no case to be made for the left’s gun side. Just as cars cannot be blamed for auto fatalities and forks cannot be targeted in making Americans fat, guns should not be the focus in campus killings. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens, but no reasonable person would ever blame the Registry of Motor Vehicles or AAA for these fatalities. How then can there be such backlash at the NRA for the Parkland tragedy?

At Richardcyoung.com, I have written on guns and family safety for decades. My initiation with guns began in 1956, at the age of 16, with a Winchester .22. Today it remains in reach of my desk.

I do not suggest that I can come anywhere close to the background or skill set of say Erik Prince, Billy Waugh (RIP Billy Waugh), Gary Schroen, or Gary Berntsen (read each of their books linked below), but I can help you get off on the right foot.

The federal government, lawyers in general, politicians of all stripes, or the media are unlikely to do you and your family well. I suggest you pay little or no attention to the group.

As an unwavering flag waver for States’ Rights and the theme of the original Articles of Confederation, I believe the matter of guns and safety should be handled at the state level with a concentration, as is the case in Switzerland, as local as possible.

To quickly get up to speed on family security, click to richardcyoung.com to my series on The Armed American Family and my long standing interest in The Survival Rifle manufactured in the U.S. by Henry Repeating Arms. Finally, one of the best survival/gun knowledge websites you can benefit from quickly is yoursurvivalguy.com.