Why The Phrase 'Arms Wars?'

Updated: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008, 11:52 pm -- If you have any doubt that there is a war being waged against the Constitution, don't just listen to politicians. Read what one blogger in Wisconsin has to say about the brutal attack at Northern Illinois University (NIU). The writer claims the NRA has six dead college students on its hands. I would humby suggest he train his sights on the Brady Campaign (formerly Handgun Control Inc.) and the Violence Policy Center.

And don't forget, prolific writer David Codrea writes a blog that is straight to the point -- The War On Guns. I link to his posts occasionally.

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Taking a break from meetings today to follow up on an email someone sent me last week. The question generally was why I describe the Second Amendment in the overview of what The Ready Line is about as "an arms war."

The answer is simple. Several decades ago, some well meaning people in this nation essentially declared war on the Second Amendment to the Constitution. They declared war on that one provision in the Bill of Rights that protects all the others. They were joined by people who were not so well-meaning, who had other political ends in their sights.

And if you think it is just "common-sense" legislation against competition rifles (if you are an upland hunter), or "reasonable" restrictions to regulate or do away with so-called "Saturday Night Specials" (if you are a bullseye competitor) . . . think again! War was declared on your sport, on your right to self defense, on your hunting implements, and on your hobby years ago.

With the exception of the NRA's paid lobbyists, most of the legwork in our nation's state capitols to fend off attacks on every American's Second Amendment rights is done by volunteers. In Ohio, that includes folks like Randy Van Fossan of Peoples Rights Organization, Jim Irvine of Buckeye Firearms Association, Jeff Garvas of Ohioans For Concealed Carry, and David Johnson of Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association. Even myself, and a host of others I don't have room enough to name.

In every state, these people take time off from work, frequently at no pay, often driving an hour or two -- or more -- to spend a few minutes before panels in their state legislatures urging lawmakers to use their heads to reject "feel-good" legislation that time and again has been proven to have no effect on crime.

On the other side? Often a host of paid "advocates," who will never call themselves lobbyists. Instead, their organizations are "fuzzily" named in a manner that most everyone would support. Hey, I reject violence just like the next person. But funded by deep-pocketed foundations that float money to numerous anti-gun initiatives, these local and state groups do far more damage to safety in their communities. Some who come to testify against gun ownership come in with well-meaning reasons. But they do not understand the larger issues at stake. They do not understand that the police they believe are there to protect them, cannot be there every moment and have no legal responsibility to protect them. They are told that guns are the problem, when it is criminals who are the problem.

Author Joel Miller" said it best. "When anti-gun agitators wish to hack away support for Americans' right to keep and bear arms, they must utter only one word: crime. It's the catch-all, the single basket into which they toss all their rotten eggs. The problem of crime, they say, can be solved if we just get rid of all those danged firearms."

This is a war on the Second Amendment. In the name of crime. The true crime is the unending war against an individual's right -- even if she chooses not to exercise this right -- to possess a firearm (and ammunition, too, for those organizations looking for ways to register or ban that item).

In their mind, the war on guns is a just cause. Shouldn't our war for citizen safety have the same passion behind it? It is an arms war. Its a war to protect the Constitution.