While the Newtown Connecticut incident struck our hearts as an attack upon innocence, the assault on the Second Amendment is a naiveté of powers and sovereignties. The following is a quote of Kitty Werthmann as presented in an article titled, She survived Hitler and wants to warn America.

Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.  (Kerby)

The Second Amendment to the Constitution, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” is not, and was not, about guns specifically, or sporting. The word “Arms” is a plural word and an abbreviation of the word armament. This is not a hunting rifle but rather, “The weapons and supplies of war with which a military unit is equipped” (The Free Dictionary, 2012) And who is the militia? “…for all males in a nation ARE the militia according to the Founding Fathers and the Supreme Court…”  (Mead, 2012)

“This sentence comes from Thomas Jefferson’s three drafts of the Virginia Constitution. The text does vary slightly in each draft:  ‘No free man shall ever be debarred his the use of arms.’  (Monticello.org, 2012)”

It seems the United States of America is fast becoming, if it has not already become, a knee jerk nation responding to the emotions of the day. The Second Amendment is attacked while tolerating the effects of divorce, media violence, incapacity to enforce existing laws, and government which continues to outspend its means. The US provides weapons to rebels around the world who are supposedly fighting for freedom, and in the aftermath of a local tragedy, will seek to infringe upon the American citizen who would protect the philosophies of liberty.

I urge we move with all due caution into the ground which is now being prepared. To till this soil with the seeds of a repressive legislation may leach the nutrients of freedom from a fertile land. The special interests will claim to pluck weeds, yet Hollywood and its sponsors are very much the sowers of many of these thistles and thorns. Surely they are distracting at the same moment they ply on to the innate nature of human desire.

It is not the tools that break the ground which infest the field but rather the insects of ideology and the crows of collectivism which have distributed the pestilence of unchecked weeds which now cover the landscape of our children’s minds. It is the lack of regular cultivation in the field by parents who pursue the values of commercialism while neglecting the sprouting nest of nanny state which they have been sold in 30 second intervals, 30 foot tall signs, and 30 Mbps. Certainly not all stray shoots are infectious but without careful agronomy they may take over a good field. Can famine be but a few seasons away.

The incidents which have littered our nation are not isolated in cause or facilitation.  The problems are many and the solutions require deep plowing into soil gone hard. It is time we re-examine the values of the nuclear family. We must investigate the values of current entertainment and media presentation and how it manifests behaviors. Accountability and responsibility are needed in our communities and government.

The Founding Fathers took long deliberation in drafting our Constitution. Consideration of their reasoning and concerns resumed during the First Congress. What were they seeking to achieve? Why did they perceive the need for protections of speech and arms?

Works Cited

Armament. (2012). Retrieved December 20, 2012, from The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/armament

Bill of Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2012, from Charters of Freedom: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights.html

Jefferson Quotation. (n.d.). Retrieved December 20, 2012, from Th. Jefferson Monticello: http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/no-freeman-shall-be-debarred-use-arms-quotation

Kerby, R. (n.d.). She survived Hitler and wants to warn America. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from beliefnet: http://blog.beliefnet.com/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars/2011/04/she-survived-hitler-and-wants-to-warn-america.html#ixzz2FWYxFZ8e

Mead, P. (2012, December 18). Mass Shooting in CT. Retrieved December 20, 2012, from Tentpegs: http://tentpegs.patrickmead.net/?p=1860