What Can We Do To Preserve Our 2nd Amendment?

Our Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms have been coming under severe attack over the last several years. Ever since President Obama took office, he’s been seeking every opportunity he could to infringe upon those rights. Gun and ammo sales have gone through the roof, as people have sought to make sure that they bought guns before Obama managed to make it illegal.

The truly surprising thing about all this is that Obama didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to repeal the 2nd Amendment during his first two years of office, while he had control over both houses of Congress. Had he tried to then, he might have been able to succeed; after all, he managed to push Obamacare through, without a single Republican vote.

Gun control advocates give all sorts of emotional reasons why guns should be taken out of the hands of ordinary citizens and left in the hands of only the police and military.

They point to statistics from countries which have strict gun control laws, and applaud them for their low murder rates. But they are selective in their choosing of facts when they do that, making sure that they use facts which can be bent to supporting their situation.

One of their favorite facts is that there is more gun-related violence in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Of course, to do so, they have to ignore terrorist actions in the Middle East, as well as calling Muslim terrorist actions in the United States, normal crime, like “workplace violence.”

Based on that, they are right to say that the United States is third in murders around the world. But at the same time, if you remove Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans and Washington from the statistics, we drop to fourth from the bottom. The interesting thing is, those four cities have been controlled by Democrat politics for decades and they have some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country.

Many of those who are opposed to the 2nd Amendment are simply afraid of guns. My wife used to be that way. She’d literally close her eyes if a gun appeared on the TV set. She didn’t know anything about them, except that they made a lot of noise and people used them to kill other people. Her dislike was fueled by her ignorance.

Now my wife has a concealed carry license, goes to the shooting range with me and has her own pistol. She’s not about to become Annie Oakley, but her views have changed. Why? Because she’s smart enough to learn and overcome her fear.

While the masses who are in favor of gun control join in because of fear; the political class is different. They are interested in gun control because of control. They recognize that they will never gain complete control over the United States as long as there is an armed citizenry; so they want to get rid of guns. Historically, when that happens, the next step is getting rid of millions of people.

Considering the rhetoric coming out of the left and how they automatically classify conservatives as violent, stupid terrorists, it’s clear who those millions of people will be. They won’t be illegal aliens that commit crimes, drug pushers or Muslims who support terrorists. No, it will be you and I; those that oppose the progressive liberal left and the direction they are taking this country.

So, What Can We Do?

The first thing we need to do is to shed the idea that we can’t do anything. Too many people have accepted the idea that we are unable to do anything. We have a voice and it’s time we started using it.

If you look at the direction that the country has gone in the last few years, it’s clear that two groups–LGBT and Muslims — have made the biggest gains in furthering their agenda. Both are receiving a huge amount of support, while only representing a very miniscule part of the population.

How is that so? They are successful because they’ve learned how to use our country’s political system to their benefit. They paint themselves as being discriminated against, and spend millions painting that picture.

Now, I realize that conservatives are much less likely to give their money to some cause that actually helps people, rather than political movements, but that is working against us. The other side is pouring a huge amount of money into pushing their agenda, while we, the backbone of America, spend very little on supporting our point of view. So, the message of those fringe groups ends up sounding like the message of mainstream America.

Ask any liberal politician and they’ll tell you that they are supporting the viewpoint of the majority of the population. Why? Because that’s the only voice that’s making any noise. We, the “silent majority” have been silent too long; and now our silence is costing us.

So, How Do We Make Our Voice Heard?

1. Join Pro-Gun Organizations

It’s not that there aren’t any pro-gun organizations in the country, there are. The biggest is the National Rifle Association (NRA). While they have more members and spend more on political lobbying than any other organization, they aren’t the only ones. Others include:

• National Association for Gun Rights
• Firearms Coalition
• Second Amendment Foundation
• Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
• The Second Amendment Sisters
• Armed and Secure
• Gun Voter

Joining these organizations means that when their lobbyists go talk to Congress, they can say, “I represent five million people.” That’s the type of introduction that gets attention. Our elected officials may be largely bought by big money, but they still need votes. When a lobbyist says big numbers, they tend to listen.

This makes joining these sorts of groups one of the most effective ways of getting your voice hears. Even if you aren’t keeping up with what’s going on in the political realm, having your name on those lists helps ensure that you’ll have the best possible representation for your point of view.

2. Call Your Congressman

Our nation is supposed to be a republic. That means that we have elected officials, who are supposed to vote the way that the citizens in their districts want them to vote. But for them to do that, they need to know our will. So, we need to let them know.

Typically, seems like there are more liberals who are quick to call their congressmen and spout off than there are conservatives. So, the word that gets to the congressmen is to vote liberal. While they may or not follow that, it still will affect their voting. Just knowing that the majority are in favor of or oppose a particular piece of legislation will be a factor in their thinking about it.

The problem here is that in order to make your voice heard, you need to keep aware of what gun legislation is being debated and voted upon. If you don’t, the opportunity will pass you by. So, you need to keep at least a partial eye on politics, which probably isn’t your favorite subject.

Here again, the pro-gun organizations can help. Most of these organizations send out e-mails and announcements to their members when legislation is up for vote. That gives you the opportunity to contact your Senators and Congressmen, and tell them where you stand on that issue. It only takes a moment to make that phone call or send an e-mail, and you’ve made your voice heard.

If enough of us would regularly do this, it would make a huge difference. Sadly, few do. That is ultimately contributing to the erosion of our rights.

3. Carry Responsibly

It is important to exercise the rights that we do have and to do so in a way that everyone can easily recognize as responsible. There’s absolutely no rationale behind arguing for more rights, if we’re not using the rights that we already have. So, if your state allows open carry, then carry.

Personally, I would have to put some limitations on that. Carrying loaded AR-15 into the supermarket might be within your legal rights, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a good idea. The problem is that there are too many people who will be afraid to see you or I carrying a gun like that. They don’t know the law and they don’t know guns, hence their fear.

The real problem is that these actions give ammunition to the anti-gun crowd. They point to those who carry in that manner as being “irresponsible” even though you and I know better. Some will be won by those arguments.

Please note, I’m not saying don’t carry a pistol in the supermarket; all I’m recommending is to not carry a long gun there. A pistol is totally appropriate in a store, if it is legal in your state. On the other hand, a long gun is more appropriate for use outdoors, rather than indoors.

I fully support open carry demonstrations, such as those conducted by groups who carry outdoors in public places, fully obeying the law. This is exercising one’s right and doing so in a way to help acclimate the general population to the idea of law-abiding citizens carrying weapons in the open.

I would also suggest getting a concealed carry permit for the state in which you live. Most states are now “will issue” states; meaning that unless there is a reason not to issue a license, they will. So, as long as you’re not under indictment or a criminal felon, you shouldn’t have any problem getting a concealed carry license. Then again, if you get it, carry it.

There’s more to carrying responsible than just obeying the law. If you are going to carry a firearm, then you need to practice with it, so that you will be proficient in its use. Should the time ever come when you need to unholster your weapon, then you want to make sure that you can hit the target.

4. Learn to Articulate the Arguments in Favor of the 2nd Amendment

There are actually three camps on this issue. There are those who are pro-gun and those who are anti-gun. But there’s also a huge group of people who are undecided. We need to reach these people, as they can be the ones who tip the scale in our favor.

You have to remember that these people are getting all the negative talking points about guns thrown at them constantly. But they aren’t getting the positive s side of gun ownership. They’re not hearing the statistics that show how gun ownership and concealed carry licenses help to lower the crime rate. They aren’t hearing about crimes that are actually stopped by responsible law-abiding citizens.

That’s where you and I come in. If you’re going to carry, especially carry openly, you need to be ready to be questioned. When that happens, you need to be ready to give well thought out, well articulated reasons for why you carry, backed up by the appropriate statistics.

I’m not talking about debating with liberals; that doesn’t do any good (unless you have an audience). I’m talking about the person who has a legitimate question or doubt, not the one who just wants to call you names. Those people’s questions deserve an answer and they deserve a good one. You could be the person who swings their opinion in favor of the Second Amendment.

5. Make it Hard to Enforce any New Gun Control Laws

I want to be careful on this one. First of all, let me say what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that it’s okay to sell guns to others who might be criminals. Nor am I saying that you should break the law in any way. We don’t want to be any part of criminals getting their hands on guns.

Okay, so the gun control crowd wants to require registration; which will invariably be followed up by confiscation. So, we want to make that impossible to accomplish. How can we do that?

First of all, there already is a record of most firearm sales in this country. Those with a Federal Firearms License (FFL) are required to keep meticulous records of every firearm they receive and that they sell. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF or BATF) audits those records on an annual basis, to verify that they are complete and accurate.

I’ve seen some pretty strong evidence to show that ATF agents copy records when they do these audits. So, there’s a good chance that there is some federal database, even if it is illegal. That database could be the foundation of creating a nationwide firearm registration.

Buy Private

The first way to keep your gun ownership off those records is to buy all your firearms in private, local sales. Even if the seller requires a receipt, that won’t prove that you own the gun. So, you can own guns that the government can’t trace to you.

Sell Private

Selling guns privately that you no long want (is that possible?) is another way of confounding the system. When you sell a firearm, there is no requirement that you keep records of the sale. However, I would recommend making a call to the NCIC database and check on the identity of the person who is buying it from you. This is the same criminal database that FFL dealers use and it is open to public use. By doing this, you are helping to ensure that you are not getting guns into criminals’ hands.

Build Your Own

If you build your own guns, there is no legal requirement to have a serial number on it or to have it registered in any way. However, you cannot sell it or move it across state lines.

There are two different ways of building your own guns. The first is to buy what is known as an 80% lower. This is an AR-15 lower receiver that is only 80% machined. You have to finish the other 20% of the machining work yourself, in order to build the gun. As long as you buy it 80% complete and do all the work yourself, this is legal.

You can also buy 80% lowers for some other military styled firearms, guns that predate the AR-15. These are not as common, but there are a few available. It is also a bit harder to find the parts to finish them out; but once again, they are available. There is also an 80% frame available now for a 1911 pistol.

The second way to build your own firearms is to build black powder “historic” firearms. Technically, there is no requirement to put a serial number on any “historic firearm” regardless of whether it works or not. So, as long as it qualifies as historic, you can build one and not worry about some part showing up at your doorstep with a serial number stamped in it.

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Hide Some Guns

If you’re going to go through all this trouble, it’s a good idea to hide some of your firearms as well. That way, if the government does institute door-to-door searches, hopefully they’ll leave after finding your obvious guns, leaving you the hidden ones.

This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.