I posted an article last week regarding the 2nd Amendment as it pertains to gun ownership rights given by God who is the Author of our rights (linked via title bar). One of the interesting things about blogging is having to answer any and all comers in the comment section; sometimes requiring a little soul searching to justify a position taken. I’ve been enjoying such a “tennis match” of opinions for quite some time with Probligo who resides in New Zealand and has a different set of values, at least as far as gun ownership goes. Here is a link to Probligo’s article, “The Joy of …2”
http://probligo.blogspot.com/2007/03/joy-of-2.html
I’ve thought about some of the aspects that are tied with my head strong conviction that government has no business attempting to restrain individuals when such restraints step into the area of God given rights. I’m of a firm belief that there is a huge difference between God given rights and powers granted to government by the governed. That one sentence may summarize what America is in comparison to all the other countries in the world, our founding fathers acknowledged that God given rights must supersede those powers granted to government by the governed. The Declaration of Independence set the tone and the foundation for our nation’s creation and separation from that which had been; the Constitution and Bill of Rights were put in place as reminders of that most important differentiation.
The nerves that run down my right arm and control my pinky and ring fingers are numb and so I’m struggling to type, not being able to feel the keyboard and having to retype as I go along, thank goodness for this being a word processor instead of an old fashioned typewriter or having to jot this with pen and paper; still it’s more than a little annoying not to have a smooth transfer of thoughts. I tried unsuccessfully to find a letter that I wrote many years ago, one that I sent through the chain of command in the Houston Police Department to address an internal issue regarding my belief that the Department had overstepped its authority regarding my off duty time and how I elected to use that time.
A directive had come down from the Chief’s office requiring officers to apply for extra job permits; even for non-police related extra employment which had nothing to do with representing the City, the Department or police work in any way. In other words, the Department wanted to supervise me 24 hours of every day 365 days a year. I had agreed to be an employee working a set number of hours for an agreed upon wage; I had not signed over my God given rights to pursue any otherwise legal endeavor during those hours for which the Department was not paying me. There already existed a very straight forward set of rules and guidelines for officers who wished to secure extra employment in the capacity of police officer; rules governing how many hours could be worked and included were all the rules and regulations which would apply to that officer the same as if he/she were to be working a regular duty shift.
My issue with the Department was that I didn’t have to tell anyone what I did with my off time as long as I wasn’t violating any of the already existing rules of conduct, that it shouldn’t matter if I stayed up all night watching movies, going bowling or making keys for a side income as long as I didn’t represent myself as an employee of the Department working in the capacity of police officer. I was being forced to submit to an authority other than God, in matters which had no relationship with my terms of employment. I eventually lost my bid to have that directive overturned and filled out the required form so that I could obtain a non-police related extra job permit. The reason that I lost was, as the Department’s legal staff cited, because I had not suffered any “harm” by having to ask permission since that permission was granted. Had I refused to request permission the Department could claim insubordination and I would have faced termination and so I really had no choice other than to submit to their intimidation and their demands.
What, if anything, has that got to do with the 2nd Amendment and the God given right to gun ownership? I’ll get to that in a bit; but only after rehashing a similar rift that I have with the State of Texas requiring me to submit to licensing in order that I might continue to pursue a livelihood in the locksmith profession.
I wrote and posted on, “Mandatory Continuing Education in Texas”, and also linked that with my original displeasure, “Business Licenses – Jump for Joy”. Both articles point to the fact that government has implemented laws which violate the principle that individuals obtain their rights from God while government obtains their power from the governed. In both cases the government has implemented secondary bureaucratic organizations which have the power to subject a law abiding citizen to their whims and also have the power to prevent that citizen from conducting an otherwise lawful endeavor. These bureaucratic obstacles were established through legislation; however, they are independent operatives, unrestrained and rather than being responsible to those whom they govern it is nearly the opposite. These tyrants wield considerable power and intimidation in order to obtain compliance; they are fee oriented and confiscatory in nature and they have taken over the once independent locksmith industry. They have ruled how I must advertise, what I must have on my service truck, my letterhead, my business cards and all in the name of protecting “free enterprise”. Pardon me while I put my head in a basket and hurl.
http://tfsternsrantings.blogspot.com/2006/05/mandatory-continuing-education-in.html
http://tfsternsrantings.blogspot.com/2005/03/business-licenses-jump-for-joy.html
Do you see the pattern which I’ve attempted to expose? In each instance a God given right has been forced to yield to government’s abuse of power, powers which were supposed to be restricted in order to protect the individual have been perverted under the false notion that the government is protecting individuals. Isn’t that something, I mean, the individual’s rights come from God and the individual is responsible to govern himself/herself when dealing with others. We don’t get our rights from government; government is what we need protection from in keeping those individual rights in their proper perspective.
It is not the government’s job to protect us in our individual homes; that is unless you are talking about the broadest sense of the word protection, as in war and keeping the enemy away from our shores. It isn’t the police department’s job to protect each and every individual from the bad guys; sorry to be the one to tell you the facts of life. The police department can catch the bad guys later and present a case in a court of law which would hopefully put the bad guys away in prison; however, those few minutes of impending danger when the bad guys are in direct confrontation with the good law abiding citizen, those moments fall into individual responsibility. If you want to be the one who comes out on top you better figure out a way to defend yourself and your loved ones. Once it’s all over the police will come by, make a report, collect evidence and go after the bad guys.
In taking responsibility for your own life and those around you; it’s not within the government’s powers, those granted to them by the governed, to limit the individual citizen’s ability to defend themselves; to include gun ownership in the home and in public. The false notion has been presented and taken for granted that citizens need to get permission to defend themselves from the bad guys has somehow surpassed logic. I continue to hold to my conviction that we should lump bureaucratic agencies of the government in with the bad guys, those who would take from us our God given rights to property and our lives. The hidden danger of sanctioning any bureaucratic cancer in an otherwise free society will cause the foundations upon which our freedoms exist to crumble away leaving only a memory of our once prized God given rights.
I have entered this article in the next Carnival of Principled Government. I wish to thank Dana over at Principled Discovery for hosting and supplying considerable effort to bring this carnival together.
http://gottsegnet.blogspot.com/
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