Judge Napolitano: Guns and Freedom

[LibertyEagle]

The right of the people to keep and bear arms is an extension of the natural right to self-defense and a hallmark of personal sovereignty. It is specifically insulated from governmental interference by the Constitution and has historically been the linchpin of resistance to tyranny. And yet, the progressives in both political parties stand ready to use the coercive power of the government to interfere with the exercise of that right by law-abiding persons because of the gross abuse of that right by some crazies in our midst.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, he was marrying the nation at its birth to the ancient principles of the natural law that have animated the Judeo-Christian tradition in the West. Those principles have operated as a break on all governments that recognize them by enunciating the concept of natural rights.

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[XNavyNuke]

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Yet another excellent piece by the Judge.

Outlawing and offering pardons, divide and conquer are nothing new. The Judge knows his history. Lord Dartmouth's instructions to General Gage effectively made every armed citizen in the colony of Massachusetts an outlaw. Classic carrot and stick (only it didn't work).

http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/amarch/getdoc.pl?/var/lib/philologic/databases/amarch/.2330

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM LORD DARTMOUTH TO GENERAL GAGE, DATED LONDON, APRIL 15, 1775.
It would appear necessary and expedient, that all Fortifications should be garrisoned by the King' s Troops, or dismantled and destroyed; that all cannon, small arms, and other military stores of every kind, that may be either in any magazine, or secreted for the purpose of aiding the rebellion, should also be seized and secreted; and that the persons of such as, according to the opinion of His Majesty' s Attorney and Solicitor General, have committed themselves in acts of treason and rebellion, should be arrested and imprisoned.

I observed that in your letter of January 18th, you said that if a respectable force is seen in the field, the most obnoxious of the leaders seized, and a pardon proclaimed for all others, Government will come off victorious. The two first of these objects are already provided for, and it only remains for me to signify to you the King' s pleasure, that, if you shall continue to be of opinion, that an offer of pardon will be advisable, you do, by virtue of the power already given to you by His Majesty' s special commission, under the great seal for pardon for treason and other offences, issue a Proclamation within your Government, at such time as you shall judge proper, offering a reasonable reward for apprehending the President, Secretary, and any other of the Members of the Provincial Congress, whom you shall find to have been the most forward and active in that seditious meeting, requiring all persons who may, in consequence of their Resolves and exhortations, have appeared in arms to oppose the law, to render themselves to the Governour and Council within a reasonable time, and declare, that upon such surrender, and upon taking the oaths of allegiance, and making such declaration of their obedience as you shall think proper, they shall receive His Majesty' s gracious pardon for all treasons they have committed.

XNN

 

[CaptUSA]

"Break"/"brake" aside, another great column by the venerable Judge.

Most people in government believe that they can write any law and regulate any behavior, not subject to the natural law, not subject to the sovereignty of individuals, not cognizant of history’s tyrants, but subject only to what they can get away with.

Did you empower the government to impair the freedom of us all because of the mania and terror of a few?

Great.

 

[Deborah K]

+rep OP.

I'm linking this with my thread on a declaration to defend the second amendment. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?400844-Declaration-to-Uphold-the-Second-Amendment