Per Gun-Grabbers, April 19 Commemorates Armed Citizen ‘Treason’ against Government

By David Codrea

USA – -(Ammoland.com)- On this day in 1775, volunteer Minuteman militia leader Captain John Parker, along with over 70 of his neighbors, stood their ground against government enforcers. They refused to disarm and defended themselves against lethal coercion. From the point of view of those who would rule them, these brave Patriots committed treason.

That’s the position of latter-day gun-grabbers. It brings to mind an episode from years past, when colleague Kurt Hofmann wrote a rebuttal to tyrannophiles who argued, among other things, that armed citizens would be helpless to resist a government armed with sophisticated weaponry that included tanks and more. His carefully explained response, which did not violate any laws or incite anyone to commit violence, was seized upon by the conveniently-renamed Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (that plays better with those who don’t know any better than the “National Coalition to Ban Handguns,” which wants to ban more than that anyway).

They were so outraged by his column they not only tried to get Kurt shut down, they also wanted the FBI to “bring an action against him.” Since CSGV called me out by name too, as a supportive associate of Kurt’s, I invited them to report me as well. I even notified FBI myself.

That was hardly a first experience with these violence monopolists. A few years earlier, in an attempt to smear invited speakers to the Second Amendment March in Washington, D.C., they actually publicly lied about what I had written.

Per CSGV, any attempt to resist tyranny is treasonous insurrection. And treason is a capital offense.

So who should you believe? All parties to this dispute obviously have a dog in the fight. How about we consult one of the Founders, say, Tench Coxe, a prominent “gun owner rights” advocate of his day:

“As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.” (Tench Coxe in ‘Remarks on the First Part of the Amendments to the Federal Constitution’ under the Pseudonym ‘A Pennsylvanian’ in the Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789 at 2 col. 1)

“Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man gainst his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American…. [T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” (Tench Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.)

Want something more contemporary? Why don’t we see what some prominent LIBERAL ICONS had to say not all that long ago about the right to keep and bear arms as a check against tyranny?

“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used, and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.” – Hubert H. Humphrey

“By calling attention to ‘a well regulated militia,’ the ‘security’ of the nation, and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms,’ our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.” – John F. Kennedy

“It is not good for us that we should ever lose the fighting quality, the stamina, and the courage to battle for what we want when we are convinced that we are entitled to it, and other means fail. There is something better than peace, and that is peace that is won by struggle. We shall have lost something vital and beyond price on the day when the State denies us the right to resort to force in defense of a just cause.” – Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Using CSGV’s “logic,” those sympathies made these “extremists” guilty of treason.

There were Crown-worshiping Tories who thought the same about the gallant Captain Parker and his assemblage of Patriots. The battle today is no less existential. And that is why some of us will not disarm.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.

In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.