Correct Answer – The Right To Bear Arms

Correct Answer – The Right To Bear Arms
When Was The Last Time You Took The Civics Test?

Virginia –-(AmmoLand.com)-We all have various milestones in our lives. I have had a number of them since May 2001 when I came to this country on the employment visa. November 18, 2009 will be another milestone in my life – I am required to take a two hour civics test and English language knowledge test as part of my naturalization process.

I got a notice from USCIS in August 2009 that I am now eligible to apply for a U.S. citizenship. I jumped for joy, to say the least. The next thing I did was to ask my lawyer which form I have to file and how much is the application fee? Next action item was to download the civics test flash cards – a sample of questions (available on USCIS website) you should expect to be asked during the test. I felt well prepared already. I’ve been preparing for a number of years – even before I got my “green card”. During last eight years, I have visited Mt. Vernon twice, went to the National Archives, as well as Philadelphia, Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, Ash Lawn-Highland, The Hermitage, Bull Run and Petersburg battlefield grounds, and Appomattox; I met the impersonators of Gen. Washington and Patrick Henry.

I also found out that as a foreigner, I cannot contact my state’s senator or representative and ask for a pass to tour the Capitol, but if I present my foreign passport and go through multiple of the Capitol building’s security check points, I could be allowed to sit in the gallery during the session of either of the chambers. I did so with my mother while she was visiting me, who was just as surprised and excited to get this opportunity.

When my husband and I sat down one evening on our front porch and I asked him to read the 100 questions from the flash cards, I answered most of them without hesitation. Note to the developers of the flash cards – the federal government has the power “to coin Money” (Art. 1, Sec. 8), it does not have the power to print money (as the test’s suggested answer implies). We know too well what “printing money” leads to.

There were few wrong answers on my part, and one great surprise. Turned out I wrongly assumed that the right to vote was in the Bill of Rights. It could be considered as a granted right and there are 4 separate amendments that cover this subject and make sure people are not discriminated or denied a right to vote for various reasons.

But one suggested answer that brought a feeling of pleasant surprise to both of us was to the question “What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?” (The question expects you to name just two rights, although we know there are more; and the potential list of answers is not limited to just two answers.) ‘The right to bear arms’ was not the answer I expected to see. Nevertheless, there it was, on the list of correct answers. Hah! I just found the explanation to why we have such a large number of people in the anti-gun-owners movement. I can only guess that very few of them ever took the naturalization test. If they did, they would at once stop arguing with 2A activists and defenders. Let’s propose and pass a new amendment regarding voting right – that everyone has to pass a civics test before they can register to vote.

Now, I am not trying to come across as know-it-all sort of person. To the contrary, until about 2004 I had no clue that “right to keep and bear arms” was an actual language of the Second Amendment. Fact is, I did not care to know much about it, much less to exercise it. And look at me now – I am a member of VCDL, and a life-time member of the Second Amendment Sisters.

I am also a Virginia State Coordinator for the Second Amendment March which is set to take place in Washington, D.C. on April 19, 2010. If you have not heard about it yet, I urge you to visit our website and consider volunteering and supporting our mission. We need all the help we can get. We are all volunteers and can only be as successful as your willingness to help us. The mission of the Second Amendment March is to galvanize the courage and resolve of Americans; to petition our elected officials against establishing anti-gun legislation; and to remind America that the Second Amendment is necessary to maintain our right to self defense. It is the one right that protects all others.

As I travel across Virginia and spread the word about the March, every once in a while someone would ask me a question, “Do you think we can lose our right? Do you think government can take it away?” Well, the Second Amendment states that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. Today there are thousands of laws on the books, regulating and restricting individuals from owning certain types of arms, carrying them in certain places, etc. How is that for not infringing on the right? You have already lost so much, and sure will lose more unless you stand up and fight any new restrictions or regulations. They will take it, one step at a time, unless we make our voices heard.

That one test question is amazing for yet another reason. “What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?” Are we to assume there is not a single living soul left today in Chicago, California, New York and Washington, D.C., except for police, politicians and celebrities? If you don’t get the irony of the question, look up the gun laws in those places.

I will update you on the results of my test and other developments on my way to citizenship. Meanwhile, I leave you with a trivia question – “Who was the President to appoint the most number of judges to the Supreme Court?”

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The mission of the Second Amendment March is to galvanize the courage and resolve of Americans; to petition our elected officials against establishing anti-gun legislation; and to remind America that the Second Amendment is necessary to maintain our right to self defense.