By James Kaleda
New Jersey –-(Ammoland.com)- Often when I speak about the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, and what actions we need to take in order to preserve our rights, I am rebuked with the apathetic response, “From my cold dead hands.”
While this is a very poetic expression of an admirable sentiment, it is unlikely to ever happen, and unlikely to be effective. But there are things we can do today that are far less costly, far less poetic, and drastically more effective.
When guns are confiscated in the United States, few, if any, have the opportunity to face law enforcement with their weapons and die for the right to keep and bear arms. What happens, more often than not, is that law enforcement or the National Guard come into your home while you’re sleeping and hold you at bay with the select-fire model of the same weapon they came to confiscate from you.
New Yorkers who had their firearms confiscated under New York’s gun-control laws did not have the chance to fight for their Second Amendment nor did those in New Orleans who had their guns confiscated after hurricane Katrina—and even if they had, I’m not sure that we would ever know about it.
It is unlikely that the media would report “Law Abiding Gun Owner Dies Defending the Nation’s Second Amendment Rights.” More than likely, this would be reported as a crime committed by the gun owner, who, because he used his gun in the commission of a crime, was in possession of the firearm illegally and whose death would be used to justify further gun-control laws.
There is something you can do today that can help protect our Second Amendment rights.
We don’t have to die, we don’t have to become martyrs, but we do have to take action. I empathize with people when I hear them say “from my cold dead hands” because when I think about the number of steps it will take to preserve our Second Amendment rights, the idea of taking a bullet is somewhat more appealing. For instance, it may be more appealing to some to take a bullet rather than to talk to politicians or join a lobbying organization; or to take a bullet rather than take the risk of introducing yourself and the shooting sports to someone new. But these three risks will be what it takes to preserve our Second Amendment rights.
If everyone who is willing to mouth the words “from my cold dead hands” was willing to do three things, we could go a long way towards preserving our Second Amendment rights.
- Pick up the phone and call your representatives. The voice of gun control advocates is loud in our nation’s capital, and unfortunately, the voice of gun owners is quiet. We need to raise our voices so that our representatives know the Second Amendment is not to be infringed.
- Join at least one Second Amendment Society. These organizations are our voice and work tirelessly to protect our rights. They need our support, and they need their membership levels to reflect the number of gun owners in this country in order to be credible.
- This year commit to finding one new person was has never shot a gun, put a gun in their hand, and get them involved in the shooting sports. Some estimates put gun ownership in the United States at about 50 percent. As we increase that proportion, the pressure for gun control goes away.
It will take much more than this to preserve our rights, but it’s a good start and will be far more effective than promising to die for the preservation of the Second Amendment.
James Kaleda
