What We Stand For

Rights of the Citizenry:

These  wedge issues are called rights of the citizenry, due to they are equal  rights for all and can only be acted upon by the society, as a whole or  affect the society governed as a nation of laws. We as a  society will put laws in place that will have an effect on the society  as a whole and will only have a negative effect on an individual in  extreme cases within due process of our laws.

Civil Rights:  

Problem: 

The US citizenry has not received equal protection of rights under the US Constitution. 

Solution:  

The US Constitution guarantees equal rights to all individuals based on race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. The Labor Party will make sure all individuals receive equal protection of all laws guaranteed by the US Constitution. 

Education: 

Problem:  

The “No Child Left Behind Act” is not working! Standardized Testing is teaching our children to become test takers, which can be skewered, biased and discriminatory.

Problem:  

Educational institutions in the urban environment are inferior to their counterparts. Teachers are not given the adequate tools necessary to teach and educate the nation’s student population.
 

Problem:  

Teacher’s salaries are not up to par with other industrialized nations. 

Solution:  

To  once again keep the United States competitive with the world in  education, we want to put all teachers under federal guidelines and  significantly increase their level of pay. As teachers are the front line to future generations and leaders, it is imperative that it should reflect in their pay grade. Also,  all teachers will be required to test on a regular basis (every 4  years) in their perspective fields of study to stay current and cutting  edge.

Solution:  

Parents  will also be responsible and involved to make sure their children stay  on track to receive the necessary training to prepare them for the world  of competition. 

Solution:  

Children will also be responsible for their education. All children shall retain a certain skill set. If  a child cannot compete academically, we as a nation will seek their  hidden talents and further their growth, so they may be competitive in  those skills and/or develop their trade skills.

Health Care:

Problem:  

The pharmaceutical companies are not in the business of healing people. The primary concern is to maximize company profits. There  are too many pharmaceutical lobbyists in Washington, DC to ensure laws  are written to protect the business as usual policy. 

Solution:  

The  Health Care provided to those we put in charge of our affairs (Members  of Congress) shall be granted to all United States citizens! The role of Congress will be to negotiate with the medical industry the same rights and privileges they do for themselves. This is a better alternative than stripping Members of Congress of their health benefits.
 

Racial Issues:

Problem: 

Our nation has been divided along racial lines far too long. In a time of peace, we are black, white, Hispanic, Asian or Arab. We are a nation of immigrants and that is what makes the United States the greatest nation in the world. In a time of war, we come together as Americans and that has made this a unique and great nation. We  are a nation that welcomes all newcomers, but during the birth of the  nation there was turmoil, chaos and racial divide, in some cases still exist today.

Solution: 

In  order for this nation to be great again, we must put our racial  differences aside and make sure we all have equal access to life,  liberty and the pursuit of happiness! It is given that some are born to lead, while others are born to follow, this principle was not designed to be based on race. It is better for our nation to welcome all ideas to the table than to create those ideas from a small group! 

Solution: 

All  corporations doing business will agree that controlling 51% of the  corporation is more profitable and prosperous than controlling 90% of  the corporation. More creative ideas to make a profit will come from a diverse group of individuals. Great minds offer a diverse spectrum of ideas that can benefit society, as a whole.

Retirement and Social Security:

Problem: 

The title says it all, “retirement and social security.” Recent stock market fluctuations have proven that “privatizing” social security is not the way to go! Certain  Members of Congress believe that the individual should be responsible  for their own retirement, but taken into account of low wage-earners,  the disappearing pension plans and the dwindling value of 401Ks, saving  for retirement is non-existent.

Solution: 

The Labor Party believes that it is the role of the federal government to act as an arbiter between capitalism and labor. The  role of the government is to ensure that all US citizens obtain and  secure adequate means to survive during their retirement years. 

Solution:  

As  taxes are collected to maintain the federal government, the government  already has an adequate social security system in place to ensure  retirement for those, who reach the required retirement age. To  always keep Social Security solvent, Congress will shift a percentage  of the general taxes collected to keep the retirement fund solvent for  future generations.

Solution: 

As  companies are in the process of dismantling pension plans, reducing  contributions to 401Ks and not paying their fair share of taxes. The  Labor Party will elect Members of Congress that will levy taxes on  corporations doing business in the US to protect and ensure adequate  funding of social security retirement for future generations to come.

Taxes: 

Problem: 

Every US citizen and corporation should pay their fair share of taxes! The wealthy and corporations have not done so in the past and present.

Solution: 

We in the Labor Party will repeal all tax cuts for those earning over $250,000 per year. All corporations doing business in the United States will pay their fair share of taxes as well. For the wealthy and all corporations to receive a tax break in the US, they must invest and re-invest in the US economy.
 

Solution: 

The cap of $110,000 will be removed and all wages earned will be taxed accordingly. All will be entitled to receive Social Security benefits at the required retirement age.  
 

The Right to Bear and Keep Arms:

Problem:  

States  regulate gun laws to the point that the laws are skewered, biased and  discriminatory against, who can own and possess guns in the United  States.

Solution:  

The Labor Party will work to strengthen the 2nd Amendment rights of every law-abiding citizen to have the right to keep and bear arms! No exceptions! It is the duty of all American citizenry to keep and bear arms and to protect the home-front. It is the duty and responsibility of every citizen to protect and secure the US borders from an unwarranted enemy.
 

Solution: 

The Voters Rights ID card will ensure everyone the right to Bear and Keep Arms.
 

Voting Rights: 

Problem:  

The intention of the Founding Fathers was to guarantee the citizenry the right to vote. In the process, voting rights were given in increments (white men: 1840;  freed blacks: 1865; women: 1920s) to particular groups of the citizenry  to protect the nation from unwarranted influences. As a result, these particular groups have instilled fear and as a result,  less of the citizenry do not exercise their right to vote. 

Solution:  

The Labor Party will make voting mandatory at the age of 18 years. All US citizens will be given a Voter Rights ID Card, at the expense of the federal government (paid with tax-payers dollars). We  will make the day of voting a federal holiday, whereas all businesses  are closed, as well as the federal government to allow all US citizens  the ability to participate and exercise their right to vote.
 

Solution:  

The day of voting should take place on the last Tuesday in the month of  October, since there are no federal holidays in this month.

“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” – 2nd Amendment

When interpreting the Constitution, it is crucial to determine the Framers’ true intentions when drafting the laws of the land. To understand and know the true intentions of the Framers, one needs to refer to the debates written by the Framers in the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers.

In the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, the Framers laid the foundation for the development of a federal government. The Federalist Papers defended the concept of a strong central government with their arguments in favor of the constitution. The Anti-Federalist saw in the constitution threats to freedoms and liberties of a newly independent people.

The Papers were written into 85 essays to argue that the US Constitution should either be rejected or modified before its adoption. The writing of the Papers matched up with each other, capturing the worthwhile and accurate fact that a conversation of vital importance had taken place and both sides did address the concerns of the other side.

In 1778, the States debated the merits of a proposed central government. Along with the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers documented the political context in which the structure of a federal government was created. In the formation of a federal government, a Bill of Rights was created, establishing laws and duties within a central government, and states’ rights. We are going to discuss the 2nd Amendment and the Right to Bear “All” arms.

The 2nd Amendment is divided into sections to explain how each part of the Amendment will serve the citizenry of the United States. The Federalists and Anti-Federalist both agreed that a standing army posed the biggest threat to freedoms and liberties of the citizenry. What they could not agree on was, who would have the authority and control over a standing army? To answer the questioned presented, there are several opinions, as to what the meaning of “a well- regulated militia” actually means? What are the duties of the militia? What are the duties of a standing army?

The Framers made it clear that “a well-regulated militia” refers to the Militias of the States, which are made up of the people within these states. The Framers wanted citizen soldiers, who were to be well-prepared and organized for the exercise of their duties to execute the Laws of the Union. The states were given this power for fear of the national government building a standing army that could take from the states their principal means of defense against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections and domestic usurpation of power by rulers.

“If a well-regulated militia be the most natural defense of a free country, it ought certainly to be under the regulation and at the disposal of that body which constituted the guardian of the national security. If standing armies are dangerous to liberty, an efficacious power over the militia, in the body to whose care the protection of the state is committed, ought, as far as possible, to take away the inducement and the pretext to such unfriendly institutions. If the federal government can command the aid of the militia in those emergencies which call for the military arm in support of the civil magistrate, it can the better dispense the employment of a different kind of force.” – Federalist No. 29

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

The Framers feared standing armies, as they posed a threat to freedoms and liberties of the citizenry. The believed that through the militia, the citizenry can be called upon from the states in time of need to defend the nation from the dangers of the Native Americans on the frontiers, slave insurrections within the colonies or from the European provinces in the neighborhood. There were also fears of institutions within a federal government that may become unfriendly to the people.

“What Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty….Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.” Rep Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, I Annals of Congress 750, August 17, 1789

The militia is to be the power of the people, the yeomanry, who in human nature have the right to defend life, property and nation. Being properly armed and equipped by private arms lessened the burden of the states to provide such weaponry. The people were to be captains of labor and industry and be so, after the threat to freedoms and liberties were restored. The ‘well-regulated” part of the militia called for the necessity of training to assemble the people, once of twice in the course of a year. The state needed an excellent body of well-trained militia, who were ready to take the field whenever the defense of the state or nation was called upon. 

“This will not only lessen the call for military establishments, but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. This can to me only substitute that can be devised for any standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.” – Federalist No. 29

“A free people ought not only be armed, but disciplined…” George Washington, First Annual Address, to both House of Congress, January 8, 1789

So, the underlying reason against the standing army is a militia of the people. The people have the right to defend and protect their own freedoms and liberties. The Framers believed that a militia made of sons, brothers, neighbors and fellow citizens are men, who are daily mingling with the rest of their countrymen and who participate with them the same feelings, sentiments, habits and interests causes no apprehensions for the states to prescribe regulations on the militia and to command its services when necessary.

“…the ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in the people alone…” – James Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788

The Framers believed that the liberty and freedoms of the people are in danger from a large standing army, for fear the army will subvert to the forms of government. The argument against a standing is very clear. The role of the militia gave balance to the authority of a national government not to overstep its boundaries within the states’ rights and/or the rights of the people. If “the people were to be adequately armed,” the standing army will be utterly incompetent to the purpose of enforcing encroachments against the united efforts of the great body of the people.

“On the other hand, the liberty of the people would be less safe in this state of things than in that which left the national forces in the hands of the national government. As far as an army may be considered as a dangerous weapon of power, it had better be in those hands of which the people are most likely to be jealous than in those of which they are less likely to be jealous. For it is a truth, which the experience of ages has attested, that the people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion.” – Federalist No. 25

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.” James Madison, I Annuls of Congress 434, June 8, 1789 

The 2nd Amendment was written because the Framers wanted the people armed to protect their life, property, and state in the event the people had to defend the state from usurpations of power from the federal government. As the militias were to be made up of the common yeomanry, the Framers believed the people going back to farmers, laborers and captains of industry would not seek tyrannical powers, but they thought otherwise of the national legislature. The people should always be armed and ready for government insurrections. A militia of the people are defenders of the state and the restorers of freedoms and liberties.

“The obstacles to usurpation and the facilities of resistance increase with the increased extent of the state, provided the citizens understand their rights and are disposed to defend them. The natural strength of the people in a large community, in proportion to the artificial strength of the government, is greater than in a small, and of course more competent to a struggle with the attempts of the government to establish tyranny. But in a confederacy the people, without exaggeration, may be said to be entirely the masters of their own fate.” – Federalist No. 28

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined…. The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.” – Patrick Henry, Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 5, 1778 

In the event the federal government was to check the power of the states, it is to be the people to defend the state from the powers of the federal government. In the event the state was to check the powers of the people, it is to be the federal government to defend the people from the powers of the state. If the people were to have their powers checked by either the federal government or the states, it is the right of the people to restore their own freedoms and liberties.

This system of checks and balances can only be performed and enforced, as long as the people are well armed. To prevent this action, the Framers placed a numerical number on the strengths of a standing army in relationship to the arming of the citizenry. The citizens were not to be inferior nor outgunned, if there was a creation of a standing army. It is the right and the duty of the people to be the restorers of their own freedoms and liberties to ensure tranquility.

“Power being almost always the rival of power, the general government will at all times stand ready to check the usurpations of the state governments, and these will have the same disposition towards the general government. The people, by throwing themselves into either scale, will infallibly make it preponderate. If their rights are invaded by either, they can make use of the other as the instrument of redress. How wise will it be in them by cherishing the union to preserve to themselves an advantage which can never be too highly prized!” – Federalist No. 28

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” – William Pitt (the Younger), Speech in the House of Commons, November 18, 1783

The Framers created a system of checks and balances between the nation, the states and the people. The new nation is designed to be the will of the people. The federal government and state governments are representatives of the people. If any threats come to the people, the people are responsible for themselves. The Framers wanted the people armed, as it is the people’s right in nature to “defend” their life, liberty and property. The people also needed to be armed in the event their freedoms and liberties were threatened by national authority and/or the state. The people alone are the restorers of their rights to freedoms and liberties.

“Besides, if the habits and sentiments of the people of America are to be relied upon, as the sole security against the encroachment of their rulers, all restrictions in constitutions are unnecessary; nothing is more requisite, than to declare who shall be authorized to exercise the powers of government, and about this we need not be very careful-for the habits and principles of the people will oppose every abuse of power” – Anti-Federalist No. 24

“For it is truth, which the experience of ages has attested, that the people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 25, December 21, 1787

Guns and future arms shall not be taken from the people. As a right in nature for man to protect himself, he needs every weapon at his disposal to protect that right, even if that threat comes from another man, a group of people, a government or an entity. The 2nd Amendment guarantees and protects the peoples’ right to protect themselves by any means necessary! The Framers had the foresight to determine a threat from the powers of government and the peoples’ right to bear arms. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

“But such kinds of checks as these, though they sometimes correct the abuses of government, (more) often destroy all government. It is further said, that no danger is to be apprehended from the exercise of this power, because it is lodged in the hands of representatives of the people. If they abuse it, it is in the power of the people to remove them, and choose others who will pursue their interests in a standing army.” – Anti-Federalist No. 25

“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” – Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, 1833

The People were given the right to send representatives to Congress for the sole purpose of being in charge of the affairs of the people. The people were also given the right to remove and replace Representatives from Congress, who become corrupt, devalue the public trust and abuse the powers of the people. The Representatives need to be reminded from time to time the intentions of the Framers and the will of the people.

“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.” Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787

The protection and defense of the community is not intended to be entrusted solely in the hands of the general government and it not ought to be. The people were given the right to bear arms on their persons, as it is their right in nature to protect themselves. The Framers wrote the 2nd Amendment to guarantee the peoples’ right to keep and bear all private arms for the necessity of self-preservation.

“They are also authorized to provide for the administration of justice in certain matters of a general concern, and in some that I think are not so. But it ought to be left to the state governments to provide for the protection and defense of the citizen against the hand of private violence, and the wrongs done or attempted by individuals to each other. Protection and defense against the murderer, the robber, the thief, the cheat, and the unjust person, is to be derived from the respective state governments.” – Anti-Federalist No. 23

As a nation of laws, these laws were to be usurped by criminals. The people needed to be armed to protect themselves from the wrong doings or others. Criminal elements were well established within the states, as some did not agree with the functions of a governing nation. These criminal elements cams from the people and the government as well. The people needed to protect themselves from any and all such elements.

“The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” – Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18thcentury criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776  

As nature provides the necessary weaponry, man has the right of nature to protect himself. If this means, he has the right to defend his life, property, state and/or nation, then he should do so with existing weaponry. Gun regulations implemented by the federal government or the states restricts the peoples’ right to keep and bear arms and goes strictly against the intentions of the Framers. When gun restrictions are implemented on law abiding citizens, those restrictions only the benefit criminal elements!

“The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” – Samuel Adams, Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, 1788

The prevention of law abiding citizens from carrying firearms is a threat to their divine right to defend and protect themselves from criminal elements. It also denies law abiding citizens their rights to be restorers of their own freedoms and liberties. The federal and state governments cannot usurp the powers of the people. Gun restrictions prevent the peoples’ constitutional right to defend and protect themselves. The Framers were explicit in the writing of the 2nd Amendment.

Under the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states and to the people. This implies that the federal government does not possess all possible powers, because most of these powers are reserved to the state governments and others are reserves to the people. The 10th Amendment reinforces the 2nd Amendment, as a right specifically reserved to the people. 

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibit by it to the States, are reserved to the States, or to the people.” – 10th Amendment

State gun regulation prevents the people to properly protect themselves in nature by preventing law abiding citizens the right to properly carry firearms? If so, the states cannot infringe on the rights of the people to defend themselves. The right to keep and bear arms were not given for hunting purposes only, but to protect life and property as well. As the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms, it is a right reserved specifically to the people in the United States Constitution. It is the right of the state to form well-regulated militias, which have become state/local law enforcement agencies and not a militia of the people. 

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” – Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776 

As we have witnessed the growth of state law enforcement agencies, are states no longer a militia of the people? The question becomes are state law enforcement agencies permanent militias or are they considered state standing armies? State Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) are not a militia of the people, they are permanent law enforcers, who are enforcers of state laws. As they are enforcers of state laws, the people are the protectors of themselves. These law enforcement agencies are not restores of freedoms and liberties, but representatives of tyranny!

“The liberties of a people are in danger from a large standing army, not only because the rulers may employ them for the purposes of supporting themselves in any usurpations of power, which they may see proper to exercise; but there is great hazard, that law enforcement agencies will subvert the forms of the government, under whose authority they are raised, and establish one [rule] according to the pleasure of their leaders,” – Anti-Federalist No. 25

Each state has the power to raise revenues to fund law enforcement agencies, so these agencies are maintained through tax revenues and funded by the people. The Framers wanted militias of the people, so in times of peace, the militia would be disbanded and the people will go back to being farmers and laborers. The Framers wanted citizen soldiers for the exercise of their duty to execute the laws of the Union. States have created permanent law enforcement agencies that conduct secondary tax payments through the enforcement of fees, the administering of fines and due processing fees. States with the backing of law enforcement agencies have too much power over the people, as this is evident in their formation.

“It is further said, that no danger is to be apprehended from the exercise of this power, because it is lodged in the hands of representatives of the people. If they abuse it, it is in the power of the people to remove them, and choose others who will pursue their interests”….Federalist No. 26

“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, Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789

State Legislatures and the formation of law enforcement agencies have become an undue burden on the taxpayers. The people, as taxpaying citizens have the same right to keep and bear arms as provided to the state law enforcement agencies. The Framers did not want standing armies to become more powerful than the people. State law enforcement agencies have become more powerful than the people! The people are not to be outgunned by state law enforcement agencies.

“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state. In a single state, if the persons entrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures of defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair.” – Alexander Hamilton – Federalist No. 28

Permanent law enforcement agencies are no longer a militia of the people and are not designed to be “a defense of the people” but an enforcer of laws, to serve the interest of the government and are no longer an attachment to the people. A permanent law enforcement agency cannot go back to being a militia of the people. A permanent law enforcement agency is built for “offensive” purposes, as it is a restorer of order without chaos for government and not a defender of the people. Do the people have the right to have guaranteed freedoms and liberties in lieu of permanent state law enforcement agencies? Yes, the peoples’ right to be restorers of freedoms and liberties trumps the powers of the state and federal governments.

The peoples’ right to keep and bear all arms shall not be infringed upon with the requirement of a permit to carry a firearm or for restrictions to carry a firearm. It is the right of the people to protect their life, their family and their property. It is the right of man to protect himself from criminal elements within the people and usurpation of powers from the government. Man is the restorer of his own freedoms and liberties!

If a criminal wants a gun, he or she will illegally obtain a weapon in the commission of committing said crime. The illegal weapons market is well stocked with military grade weaponry. How can the people adequately protect themselves from criminals with gun restrictions on the law abiding citizenry? The law abiding citizenry need to be armed! The people are not adequately able to protect themselves in nature against criminals, if they cannot bear private arms and/or be restricted by state laws on conceal carry or open carry firearms. The people shall not be outgunned by the criminal! The people are their own saviors in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness!

What has been established here?

Standing Army Conclusion:

Fear of standing armies played an influential role in shaping American creative political thought before, during and after the Revolutionary War. Anti-standing army sentiment helped motivate independence and significantly shaped the federal balance of power established under the Articles of Confederation. The Framers wrote the Constitution to divide the powers of the nation between the federal government, the states and the people! The 2nd Amendment is a checks and balances to that power between the federal government, the states and the people. 

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.” Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787 

In spite of the diversity that characterized the Anti-Federalist opposition, they did share a core view of American politics. They believed that the greatest threat to the future of the United States lay in the government’s potential to become corrupt and seize more and more power until its tyrannical rule completely dominated the people. The Framers agreed that the people are the restorers of freedoms and liberties. The people shall not to be outgunned by a standing army. The 2ndAmendment guarantees that the peoples’ right to bear arms shall not be infringed!

“It is not said, that standing armies SHALL NOT BE kept up, but that they OUGHT NOT to be kept up, in time of peace.” – Federalist No. 26 

Does the establishment of a US Military give Congress the ability to become tyrannical? Yes, as Congress and/or the President have the power to call up the military to quell insurrections or acts of sedition. Did the Framers protect the rights of the people? Yes, so the people cannot be an enemy of the state, if their right to petition to seek redress is guaranteed and protected by the US Constitution. As the peoples’ right to petition to seek redress is written into the 1stAmendment, the people are protected by the 2nd Amendment to remind the government from time to time that the power of government resides in the people. 

“It is admitted then, that a standing army in time of peace is an evil. I ask then, why should this government be authorised to do evil? If the principles and habits of the people of this country are opposed to standing armies in time of peace, if they do not contribute to the public good, but would endanger the public liberty and happiness, why should the government be vested with the power?” – Federalist No. 26

As the standing army exists, it does so to protect the interests of the US from foreign invasions, which is expressly authorized by the Constitution. Does the standing army argument for a large military to serve overseas protects the United States against enemies before they come to the borders of the nation? Yes, however, the large military protects the US, but the military does not serve as defenders of freedoms and liberties, but serve as preventers of attacks on US soil.

The Framers wrote the 2nd Amendment to guarantee the peoples’ right to keep and bear all private arms for the necessity of self-preservation and to protect the nation. It is a divine right in nature for man to defend his life by any means necessary. As nature provides the necessary weaponry, man has the right to protect his life. If this means, he has the right to defend his life, property, state and nation, then he should do so with existing weaponry. The people shall be the restorers of their own freedoms and liberties. 

“There is no instance of any government being reduced to a confirmed tyranny without military oppression. And the first policy of tyrants has been to annihilate all other means of national activity and defense, when they feared opposition, and to rely solely upon standing troops.” – Anti-Federalist No. 29

The federal government cannot implement gun restrictions or gun regulation policies, as long as there is a standing army. The function of the federal government is to protect the people from external threats. The Framers wrote the US Constitution to keep the people armed under any and all circumstances to defend their life, their property, to protect the state and to protect the newly independent nation. “The people are not to be outgunned by a standing army!” It is the right of the people to defend and protect their life, liberties and freedoms in their pursuit of happiness without infringing on the rights of others! 

State Militia of the People Conclusion:

Under Article 1 of the Constitution, Congress may use the “militia” when necessary “to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, acts of sedition and repel invasions.” It also guarantees that the states will be protected against invasions or attempts to overthrow their “republican form of government,” and, when requested by the state legislature, against “domestic violence.”

The standing army cannot be used as an army within the states. The US Military is converted to the Army Reserve or National Guard that falls under the command of the Governor to protect and serve the needs of the state. The functions of state governments are to protect and serve the people within the states. But, states have created multiple law enforcement agencies, which have become permanent state militias. Why are not the people a militia of the state? States with permanent law enforcement agencies are no longer a militia of the people, but enforcer of laws. The people with proper training are to be a militia of the people. 

“It may safely be received as an axiom in our political system, that the State governments will, in all possible contingencies, afford complete security against invasions of the public liberty by the national authority. Projects of usurpation cannot be masked under pretenses so likely to escape the penetration of select bodies of men, as of the people at large,” – Anti-Federalist No. 28

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,” as a militia, the people are the necessity to the security of a free state. These states cannot implement gun restrictions or gun regulation policies, as long as they maintain permanent state militias and/or permanent law enforcement agencies. The Framers wanted the people armed in the event the militia was called upon and never intended for the people to be outgunned by a standing army or any permanent law enforcement agencies.

“A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves….and include, according to the past and general usage of the states, all men capable of bearing arms… “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.” – Richard Henry Lee, Federal Farmer No. 18, January 25, 1788 

If the militia is to be made up of the people, as the Framers intended, then the people shall be guaranteed the right to purchase the same firearms, as private arms that are provided to the permanent law enforcement agencies. No arms shall be regulated by the States, as long as the states maintain permanent militias through the establishment of law enforcement agencies. As the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed!

Gun Restrictions by Acts of Congress (Political Parties) Conclusion:

The establishment of political parties has not helped the people as well. Political parties have established political ideologies that run counter to the true intentions of the Framers. When the Framers wrote the US Constitution, it was written for the people. The political parties of today are a threat to this right granted by the Framers. The Framers wrote the 2nd Amendment to protect the peoples’ right to bear arms and not for political parties or court rulings to take that right away!

The political parties of today are interpreting the Constitution based on political ideology that strengthens the powers of Congress. The two party system of today limits the rights of the people to be self-governed. This was never the intent of the Framers.

“Besides, if the habits and sentiments of the people of America are to be relied upon, as the sole security against the encroachment of their rulers, all restrictions in constitutions are unnecessary; nothing more is requisite, than to declare who shall be authorized to exercise the powers of government, and about this we need not be very careful-for the habits and principles of the people will oppose every abuse of power.” Anti-Federalist No. 24

Court rulings on the 2nd Amendment are based on the partisan perspective of politics. Judges are interpreting their rulings from a (Liberal) or Conservative (Republican) viewpoint. Judges appointed to the bench are chosen with liberal and/or conservative points of view that erode the citizens’ right to bear arms. The peoples’ right to keep and bear arms is written into the US Constitution and shall not be interpreted by judicial prudence. The Framers backed up the 2nd Amendment even further with the 10th Amendment, which both are written as laws explicitly granted to the people!

“Is it presumable, that every man, the instant he took his seat in the national Senate of House of Representatives, would commence a traitor to his constituents and to his country?” Anti-Federalist No. 28

The Framers were not only against political affiliation, but were dead set against political parties. A system of government was created by the Framers that best guaranteed the freedoms and liberties of a newly independent people in a newly independent nation. The US Constitution created a nation with a Bill of Rights that protected federal rule, states’ rights and the rights of the people. The people are the selectors of leadership! The United States Constitution was written of the people, by the people, for the people!

“A nation that keeps a permanent standing army is no longer a nation of Freedoms and Liberties” – Freeman Rose

If the standing army is to ever be used to quell rebellions, suppress insurrections or acts of sedition, it will be from Congress seeking tyrannical powers and/or the failure of Congress to serve the people! The role of Congress is to serve the people! Representatives need to be reminded from time to time that the power of Congress resides in the people! Political parties are destroying the role of Congress to effectively represent and serve the people.

“They will moreover, have the power of leading troops among you in order to suppress those struggles which may sometimes happen among a free people, and which tyranny will impiously brand with the name of sedition.” Anti-Federalist No. 8

No arms shall be regulated by Congress, as long as a standing army is maintained by the federal government. The US Military does not protect the people of the United States, as their role is to serve overseas! The US Military does not defend the freedoms and liberties of the US Citizenry, as their role is to protect the interests of the United States overseas! The US congress shall not restrict the people from owning, purchasing or carrying firearms with the establishment of a standing army.

“Thus will you be necessarily compelled either to make a bold effort to extricate yourselves from the grievous and oppressive extortions, or you will be fatigued by fruitless attempts into the quiet and peaceable surrender of those rights, for which the blood of your fellow citizens has been shed in vain. But the latter will, no doubt, be the melancholy fate of a people once inspired with the love of liberty, as the power vested in congress of sending troops for suppressing insurrections will always enable them to stifle the first struggles of freedom.” – Anti-Federalist No. 8

Yes, responsible gun laws and gun restrictions may be written for the likes of convicted felons, corrupt politicians and other crimes against the citizenry, but they can only be written for the people, who decide to take their liberties and freedoms for granted. The law abiding citizens of this nation are still a militia of the people. The people stand ready to protect life, property, the state and the nation from all threats foreign and domestic. The people are to be the restorers of their own freedoms and liberties!

The Right of the People to Carry Firearms Conclusion:

The Framers feared any form of government as a threat to the people. This formation of government places the power of the nation state over the people. The Framers knew that power corrupts absolute power and placed safeguards for the people to be the restorer of their own freedoms and liberties, if needed! 

The Framers placed that safeguard in the 2ndAmendment and they backed the peoples’ right even further with the 10thAmendment. The rights of the people were created as a system of checks and balances within the formation of a federal government and states’ rights. The power of government in a civilized society resides in the people. “Tranquility to the People!” 

“But such kinds of checks as these, though they sometimes correct the abuses of government, (more) often destroy all government. It is further said, that no danger is to be apprehended from the exercise of this power, because it is lodged in the hands of representatives of the people. If they abuse it, it is the power of the people to remove them, and choose others who will pursue their interests in a standing army.” – Anti-Federalist No. 25

The formation of political parties have not benefited the people.  As political parties have formed political ideologies and political agendas, they have become detrimental to a free people. Political parties are ripe for corruption and this is evident in a two party system. As the nation has been whittled down to two political parties, the people are tyrannized into choosing one political party over the other. The United States has become a nation of laws governed and enforced by a two party political system. This prevents the power of the people from removing representatives, as needed and limits their options to be self-governed!

The Framers of the newly independent nation did not write a perfect Constitution, as the issue of expansion, the plight of the Native American and slavery were never addressed? However, as these issues were addressed in a violent manner, freedoms and liberties were given to more people in the nation. The Framers did have the foresight to try and correct these wrongs by given the people the right to keep and bear arms. 

This newly independent nation did have its flaws, but its growth has been determined on how the people protect, secure and restore their own freedoms and liberties! The War of 1812 and the American Civil War are excellent examples of the people being restorers of their own freedoms and liberties. The people restored their own freedoms and liberties that came from foreign and domestic threats.

“This may be considered as true palladium of liberty….The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color of pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.” – St. George Tucker, Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1803

The US Constitution is not a perfect document that was created for a newly independent nation and a newly independent people, but it did free the people from tyranny. The writing of the Bill of Rights was created to protect the rights of the people. The people are to be the masters of their own fate, as it is the right of man in nature to defend himself. The people are the protectors of life, property, state and the nation. The people are to be the restorers of their own freedoms and liberties!

“A well-armed citizenry is a well-regulated government.” – Curtis Rose

The Framers made their intent very clear in the 2ndAmendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. The Framers also backed up the 2nd Amendment with the 10th Amendment that rights not reserved for the federal government are reserved to the states and the people. The right to keep and bear arms was reserved directly to the people in the United States Constitution.

“Tranquility is only ensured, as long as the power of government rested in the hands of the people.” – Curtis Rose

This paper discusses on numerous occasions the importance of the people, who are to be the restorers of their freedoms and liberties. The Framers made their intent very clear for the role of the people in numerous Federalist and Anti-Federalist Articles. The nation is to be governed by the people, who were to select a group of people to represent the interests in government. The Framers were explicit with their intent in the opening phrase of the United States Constitution: 

“We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” – The United States Constitution 

The federal government shall not write gun laws with a permanent standing army. States shall not write gun laws with permanent state militias. If Congress can declare war with its standing army, Congress cannot regulate the arms of the law abiding citizenry. The people shall not be outgunned! The people are the balance of power between the federal government and the states. The power of the federal and state government resides in the people. 

“Man is born into his own freedoms and liberties.” – Curtis Rose

These are just some of the reasons why all law abiding citizens need to be armed to respond to crimes, corruption and acts of violence against the people! The people are the restorers of freedoms and liberties! The people are the law of the land! The people are the last line of defense for the nation! In pursuit of happiness, it is the people that secure their own tranquility! An armed society is a safe society! AND the 2nd Amendment guarantees that right!