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Letters to Congress
dcinffxva
Member Posts: 2,830 ✭✭
The letter to the journalists got me started, and now all the talk about HR1022 has got me rolling. Here is my letter to my elected representatives. Once again, anyone who wants to use any part to write their own representatives is welcome to. I liked the "Dear Pinhead" approach, but somehow don't think it would be effective [:D]
Dear Congressman,
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
These were the words which began your career as the elected representative of your constituents. Any representative who proposes legislation in direct contradiction of the Constitution is, to be polite, simply not doing their job.
Suppose one of your colleagues introduced a bill to ban a specific religion from practice in the United States, or proposed registration of, and a $200.00 tax stamp be affixed to every copy of the Bible. Would you take a stand? Of course you would. You swore an oath to do just that.
The framers of the Constitution knew full well the power a government can wield against their citizens, or "subjects". They had just fought, and many died because of it. As such, they built in a safeguard to insure that it would not happen again.
This safeguard is the Second Amendment.
They were not referring to the military, or the police. They were referring to the citizen, willing to take up arms to repel foreign invaders and able to take up arms to keep their own government accountable. The argument that the framers of the Constitution had no concept of modern weapons is irrelevant, most likely incorrect, and most probably arrogant. These were men of vision.
Unlawful acts, by irresponsible people have caused some legislators to act in ways that are also unlawful and irresponsible. Legislation that contradicts the Constitution is inherently unlawful. It would perhaps be more understandable, if it had any relevance. An example would be the Brady bill. I have read it, and could not find any mention of a .22 revolver being listed as an assault weapon. Being understandable still would not make it lawful.
I realize that there are numerous people advocating gun control, or complete banning of firearms owned by private citizens. I would offer a simple suggestion. The Constitution guarantees that there will be NO infringement of this right upon the citizens of the United States. If they don't like the rules, find another field to play on.
Politicians should be spending their efforts to remove the restrictive controls placed on firearm ownership. The disarming of the law abiding citizens have made us as a nation more vulnerable. Vulnerable to the criminals that roam our streets, knowing that their law-abiding prey has been stripped of its ability to defend itself, and vulnerable to our enemies who have slipped into our borders, and used our freedoms of travel to turn aircraft into missiles, and attack our citizens.
I am respectfully asking you, as the peoples representative, to look at both proposed, and existing legislation regarding firearm ownership, and ask yourself "Is this unconstitutional?". If the answer is yes, then implement steps to correct it. Major pieces of legislation to start with would be the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Hughes Amendment of the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986.
I am including some brief biographical information for the purpose of helping you understand my motivation for writing. I am a 46 year old, lifelong resident of Virginia. For the past 23 years I have served as a Deputy Sheriff in an agency of over 200 sworn, and roughly 60 civilian staff. For the last 12 years, I have served as Shift Commander. As a result of the Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 2004, my ability to carry a firearm has been insured. I currently own two fully automatic weapons, registered by the BATFE, and Virginia State Police. My purpose for writing is not to be able to obtain anything which I do not already have. It is return those rights to those that have been stripped of them.
I mean no disrespect by saying this. The majority of legislation took place before you held office. I am only asking you to do your job.
Thank you for your time,
Dear Congressman,
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
These were the words which began your career as the elected representative of your constituents. Any representative who proposes legislation in direct contradiction of the Constitution is, to be polite, simply not doing their job.
Suppose one of your colleagues introduced a bill to ban a specific religion from practice in the United States, or proposed registration of, and a $200.00 tax stamp be affixed to every copy of the Bible. Would you take a stand? Of course you would. You swore an oath to do just that.
The framers of the Constitution knew full well the power a government can wield against their citizens, or "subjects". They had just fought, and many died because of it. As such, they built in a safeguard to insure that it would not happen again.
This safeguard is the Second Amendment.
They were not referring to the military, or the police. They were referring to the citizen, willing to take up arms to repel foreign invaders and able to take up arms to keep their own government accountable. The argument that the framers of the Constitution had no concept of modern weapons is irrelevant, most likely incorrect, and most probably arrogant. These were men of vision.
Unlawful acts, by irresponsible people have caused some legislators to act in ways that are also unlawful and irresponsible. Legislation that contradicts the Constitution is inherently unlawful. It would perhaps be more understandable, if it had any relevance. An example would be the Brady bill. I have read it, and could not find any mention of a .22 revolver being listed as an assault weapon. Being understandable still would not make it lawful.
I realize that there are numerous people advocating gun control, or complete banning of firearms owned by private citizens. I would offer a simple suggestion. The Constitution guarantees that there will be NO infringement of this right upon the citizens of the United States. If they don't like the rules, find another field to play on.
Politicians should be spending their efforts to remove the restrictive controls placed on firearm ownership. The disarming of the law abiding citizens have made us as a nation more vulnerable. Vulnerable to the criminals that roam our streets, knowing that their law-abiding prey has been stripped of its ability to defend itself, and vulnerable to our enemies who have slipped into our borders, and used our freedoms of travel to turn aircraft into missiles, and attack our citizens.
I am respectfully asking you, as the peoples representative, to look at both proposed, and existing legislation regarding firearm ownership, and ask yourself "Is this unconstitutional?". If the answer is yes, then implement steps to correct it. Major pieces of legislation to start with would be the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Hughes Amendment of the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986.
I am including some brief biographical information for the purpose of helping you understand my motivation for writing. I am a 46 year old, lifelong resident of Virginia. For the past 23 years I have served as a Deputy Sheriff in an agency of over 200 sworn, and roughly 60 civilian staff. For the last 12 years, I have served as Shift Commander. As a result of the Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 2004, my ability to carry a firearm has been insured. I currently own two fully automatic weapons, registered by the BATFE, and Virginia State Police. My purpose for writing is not to be able to obtain anything which I do not already have. It is return those rights to those that have been stripped of them.
I mean no disrespect by saying this. The majority of legislation took place before you held office. I am only asking you to do your job.
Thank you for your time,
Comments
Somebody on the KeepandBearArms website compared Karl Fredrick's comments (NRA president in 1934) to the first amendment. Karl Fredrick had said that he doesn't believe in carrying firearms, and that he thought it should be severely restricted and only under licenses. They rhetorically asked if he would support licenses for carrying Bibles. After all, Bibles are protected by the first amendment just like carrying guns is protected by the second amendment.
Sad that so many among our ranks are our enemies. [:(!]