Sangamon County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois

In a 2-1 decision, a U.S. federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit, overturned Washington, D.C.'s long-standing handgun ban.  It rejected the district's argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias.

The Appeals Court ruled that the city cannot prevent people from keeping handguns in their homes.  It also struck down a requirement that owners of registered firearms keep them unloaded and disassembled.  Obviously, this law prevented the homeowner from protecting himself and his family from an unlawful intrusion into their home.

Chicago is the only other major city with a similar law that prevents people from defending themselves in their own homes.  After the bans were passed in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, both cities became the nations leaders in the number of homicides.  Both cities after the bans have since become a paradise for criminals due to the number of unarmed victims available for them to prey on.  This is obvious to everyone except the Mayors of these two cities.  Gun control doesn't work against crime or violence as these two gun bans prove.

The purpose of the Second Amendment was to stop the government from interfering in the private and individual right of firearms ownership and usage.  The Founders wanted to ensure that the people were to be at all times better armed than their government public servants, and had the power to control them.  This was to prevent tyranny by government, which is the only way tyranny ever comes to exist.  This is explained in the Federalist Papers for those who would take time to read it.

The Declaration of Independence states that the people are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights.  These rights are not within the scope of things that the government may regulate or interfere with.  The right to defense is one of these.

Gun control has nothing to do with safety, security or crime.  It has everything to do with dictatorial power in the hands of a government that increasingly proves that it will use power to the harm of the people.

Finally, the nation needs to retire the flawed arguments of the gun control advocates that the Second Amendment means something other than what it says in plain English, and recognize our right to keep and bear arms is the right most valued by free men.

The federal appeals court decision in the District of Columbia is a step in the right direction.


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