On CNN’s State of the Union, Democratic Congressman Jerrold Nadler said “We do not put the Bill of Rights…to a vote” while talking about Cordoba House, the propose Mosque that’s set to go two blocks from Ground Zero. As someone who doesn’t get worked up about what goes in two blocks from Ground Zero, I can applaud his position. It’s just to bad that so many don’t see the irony when it comes to gun rights.
Nadler is correct, we don’t put the Bill of Rights up for a vote. The Bill of Rights is set up as a hard and fast bulkhead against incursion into our civil liberties. We don’t put them up for a vote because they’re natural rights, rights that can’t be dissolved or taken away since they come from the very nature of our birth. And yet, many progressives would argue that the majority has a right to decide issues of firearm ownership.
Our right to keep and bear arms is so fundamental, that it was laid out in it’s own Amendment, rather than the mishmash of rights that make up our First Amendment. Many of our Founders believed that it was essential to protect this nation. Not only were our founders terrified of standing armies, and felt that the people would form militias in times of war, but they also believed that man had a God given right to overthrow a tyrannical regime should it take hold in this country. To that end, the believed we have a right to possess arms of a military nature so as to meet that end.
Many progressives would argue that modern weapons are far to dangerous and that they lead to crime. They believe that the people of a community have a right to restrict ownership of weapons, and the Supreme Court didn’t exactly argue with this in it’s Heller or McDonald decisions either. However, I personally do.