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

By David Codrea

Line of the Minute Men Memorial, Lexington: Is it a coincidence latter-day gun-grabbers hate the very concept of “Stand Your Ground”? (Detroit Publishing Company/Library of Congress)
David Codrea in his natural habitat.

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.

Tench Coxe
Tench Coxe

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?

Hubert H. Humphrey
Hubert H. Humphrey

“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

John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

“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

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

“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.

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southerner

Remember the 14th amendment was passed, in part, to prevent the states from legally disarming freedmen in the aftermath of the convulsive war of 1861-1865. In essence the 14th Amendment was intended to incorporate the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms as a restriction on state power.

MR. CHARLES

SOUTHERNER, Good post and comment. I didn’t learn the information about the 14th Amendment from history books or other places. Thank you for the update as to a reason why the 14th was passed into law.

dj

At gil, Mostly you got is bass ackwards. All you hypocrites that are afraid of firearms stayed home while the REAL Americans signed up on the spot the day after Pearl Harbor. Millions of REAL pro-gun Americans. Of course you have convieniently forgotten the quote by Admiral Yamamoto about there being a gun behind EVERY blade of grass….. And my dad whom was a pilot said there were several times that they did not think that they would make it back home after their bombing runs over Germany. And landing a shot up B17 with only a couple of engines… Read more »

Gil

Modern militia members romance old-timey militia who won the Revolutionary War ignoring the efforts of the military. After all, George Washington despise the militias as being totally unreliable More likely the militia heroes of the day after Pearl Harbor hide behind blades of grass telling themselves they would be heroes while the real men enlisted. The military kept the U.S. safe from the Axis not yokels hiding with guns. Real men understood they had a duty to do whereas militia heroes aspire to shoot people legally yet are nowhere to be found when there is actual trouble. Besides you forget… Read more »

Colonialgirl

GIL and the anti-gun crowd are a bunch who would have wet their panties and surrendered to the Japanese the DAY AFTER PEARL HARBOR.
Of course Gil has made it OBVIOUS that he is nothing more than an ignorant left winger anti-gun moron and troll with no brains.

Gil

Pro-gunners were staying home during WW2 while the real men went to war to fight the enemy. The pro-gunners were pretending they were keep the U.S. safe from being invaded while actual soldiers fought hard to make sure it didn’t happen.

CW3RDL

Mike Vanderbough’s memorial dedication will be at La Grange, AL on May 6. He could not have said it better. We may argue amongst ourselves about the relevance of the Second Amendment, but in 1942 what Jew did not wish he’d had a Mauser and 50 rounds to resist before being gassed and incinerated just for having been born in the “wrong” race.

Scott Winebrenner

Incredible article, informative and educational. Didn’t know of Coxe before this. The fact that Humphrey and Kennedy acknowledged and understood the meaning of the Second Amendment is new to me. This has been lost today. That basic principles could be agreed upon by prominent members of both parties seems unthinkable in the current climate. I think we have given too much ground, been too passive in defending our rights. Giving in to political correctness. Society will always be changing but to allow the perversion of law, the constitution and quite frankly, society itself has led us down a path that… Read more »

oldshooter

Whenever I hear about the inability of ordinary armed citizens to defend against govt tyranny, I find myself thinking about my late relatives in the IRA who fought the British, the Viet Cong who fought ME, the Mujahadeen who fought the Russians, and various other freedom fighters around the world through the ages. ALL fought against militarily superior armies, had to organize themselves “on the spot” initially, arm themselves with whatever they could find at the time, etc. What they all had in common, that made them successful, was not necessarily their arms, but their willingness to die for their… Read more »

RSG

1776- “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants”
2017- “it is no longer enough to be willing to fight and die to preserve our rights, one must be willing to kill for them, too”

Gil

That is: use the 2A to justify shooting dead politicians.

Clark Kent

Don’t repeat yourself; it amplifies your already massive ignorance. How old are you; twelve?

Gil

You and co. keep promising a shooting spree against the government yet say the 2A won’t support you?

trumped

Which group digs the political bodies up to be shot? The NRA or the GOA? And which group does the shooting?

Janek

With Democrats in power a ‘Repeat of History’ is possible. Don’t let that happen!

MR. CHARLES

LOOKS like all good comments and information from all contributing persons. High Five to All.

Mike Murray

Ultimately, after the lawyers have argued, after the courts have ruled, after the Congress has voted, after the President has signed, and after the sheep have been sheared, it will come down to this: “MOLON LABE”!

ceefour

And,should timedull your memory………’WE SHALL NOT DISARM”

GomeznSA

Dave, good article. I will point out that if the early version of We the People had been unsuccessful in their armed rebellion, they would all surely have been hung by the ‘legal’ authorities. By the hoplophobes continuing to call (or at the very least equate) lawful gun-owning free Citizens ‘rebels’ or ‘traitors’ they reveal which side they would have been on during the Revolution – hint for ‘gil’ they would NOT have been 3%ers.

SK

Venezuela is going to be great 2A lesson. It’s about to get real ugly down there.

GomeznSA

SK – about to? It has been real ‘sporty’ down there for quite a while. The biggest ‘tell’ is ‘mad’uro deciding to arm ‘his’ people – to help the gubmint maintain ‘order’ – read FORCE his will on the general population. Very similar to what the king’s men tried to do to the colonists.

Bob

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
or
“Who watches the watchmen?”
The answer lies in the 2nd Amendment and WE The People.
As my old belt buckle said, “I will give up my guns when they pry my cold dead fingers from around them”.

Philip Levin

Way to go, David Codrea! You hit it “out of the park” again! And David Loeffler’s comment is right on the mark.

dj

As usual paid shill/troll ‘gil’ is at it again wih a sarcastic one liner and no clue. So read this eloquent article that mostly says it all….and “gil”s motivation to turn us into unarmed victims. God Forbid! Memorandum on Arms and Freedom By Brian Puckett It is time to speak plainly for the good citizens and patriots of this nation who believe unbendingly in the Constitution of the United States of America. Though foreign governments may disarm their subjects, we will not go down that road. We will not disarm and see our freedoms stripped away. The lessons of history… Read more »

DAN III

Being armed is one thing. Having the will to exercise one’s arms in the defense of Liberty against the tyranny of government, is another. Today, there are no state militias organized within states per the Constitution. There are no “colonial” governments organized to defend against King George IV (fedgov). Until the scum of government know there are armed, ORGANIZED CITIZEN militias with the will to freshen the Tree of Liberty, the only changes that will occur will be more loss of FREEDOM. Witness: 1. California. 2. Massachusetts. 3. New York State. 4. Internal Revenue Service. 5. BATFE. 6. ETC. 7.… Read more »

Paladin

I would disagree with you on one point. The State of Georgia, which I am proud to call ;my home, has “The Georgia State Defense Force (GSDF, GASDF, or SDF) is an unpaid, volunteer component of the Georgia Department of Defense”. Although they are under the direction of the state governor, it is a volunteer, unpaid, militia.

GomeznSA

Georgia, as well as 26 other states does indeed have an ‘organized’ militia of one sort or another. And believe or not, California is one of them

DAN III

The “militia” you and Paladin cite are not true, armed, citizen militia. They do not train nor carry weapons of any sort. They are literally “State Defense Forces” where “defense” is a misnomer, a joke. Your “militia” are the furthest thing from the Patriots, actually traitors to the Crown, who stood on Lexington Green, armed and defiant against His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot, 242 years ago. What you like to describe as “militia”, conjuring up images of common citizens with musket in hand to defend against government tyranny, is not. The pitiful State Defense Forces were created under US… Read more »

Mobius

10 U.S. Code § 311 – Militia: composition and classes (a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard. (b) The classes of the militia are— (1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and (2) the unorganized… Read more »

WildBIll

Only Gil would waste time, effort, and ammunition shooting dead politicians. What do they teach down at the Violence Policy Center?

Gil

Proof that the 2A was written so the People could legally shoot dead politicians.

trumped

Proof that the second amendment serves as a check on government tyranny – just like the first – comes from the ratification debate. This was the most pro state group of all, the federalists. And this is what they promised to the ratifiers that the constitution meant: Madison in federalist 46: “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments,to which the people are attached, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit… Read more »

Heed the Call-up

I don’t believe the British soldiers were politicians. And *if* those soldiers were *also* politicians, that isn’t relevant.

Mick

More stupidity Gil ! You never fail to show how totally ignorant you are, back to mommies basement for you !

JoeUSooner

Now, THERE is a true non-sequitur, if ever one existed!!

robert

YOU GO FIRST TRENT

oldshooter

That’s somewhat confusing. Are you using “dead” here as an adjective (modifying “politicians”) or an adverb (modifying “shoot”)? Seems odd that you’d want to mutilate the bodies of dead politicians, but what do I know?

Heed the Call-up

oldshooter, you are correct. I just assumed he meant kill politicians, but your statement based on Gil’s wording does mean that he is stating shooting politicians that are dead. That is even more amusing than what I had assumed he meant.

David Loeffler

The best defense against tyranny is, of course, an armed citizenry. In the end, since the citizens of our land are the sovereigns, government tyranny is the treason.