“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”
Luke 12:48
There has been a lot of debate as of late about “Constitutional Carry” and how it is the solution nationwide for both returning this country to it’s TRUE Constitutional rights as far as the 2nd Amendment is concerned and solving the confusing legal “quagmire” of carry reciprocity laws which exist state-to-state.
So often we Americans get so passionate about a topic, most especially gun rights, that we lose the broad perspective. For example, it is currently being argued that neither the Federal nor State Governments have any right to demand of a person that they obtain a permit to carry a legally purchased firearm openly or concealed on their person. This by extension, also implies that the Federal or State Government has no right to demand that a person complete a mandated training course before the permit gets issued. Now on the surface, it may appear that the debate on this issue is solely about GOVERNMENT CONTROL; that no Government has the RIGHT to implement such laws on a citizen, since it obviously infringes their constitutionally protected 2nd Amendment rights. And although that is the most POPULAR argument on the surface of the debate, the polarizing issue that is really at hand has to deal more with a citizen’s DUTY and RESPONSIBILITY than it has to do with CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED RIGHTS. Our Founding Fathers understood you cannot divorce these two principles; a citizens rights can only be guaranteed by the degree of the citizen’s Duty to see those Rights exercised responsibly.
When a man arms himself and goes into public, he takes upon himself a certain amount of implied SOCIAL and CIVIC responsibility. He has to come to terms with the fact that the decisions he makes while armed could ultimately end or save a person’s life; including his own, therefore, he has a DUTY to be as fully TRAINED and PREPARED as he possibly can be. Now, one could argue that this RESPONSIBILITY is the individuals, and it is up to him to go out and get that training; it is not up to the STATE to mandate it. But if that is true, how do we hold that person accountable to that standard? If we wait until he has screwed up, made the wrong decision and killed an innocent person, have we not waited too long? No. The short answer is there HAS to be some accountable standard.
Now, as an example, if we look at the current Concealed Carry mandated Training in Texas, which is a meager 8 hour course that could be passed by my 11-year-old blindfolded, This IS NOT that accountable standard! We have to go farther and deeper than that as a SOCIETY if we fully intend to be morally and socially responsible. Can you train the average person for EVERY possible situation? Of course not, but you can train them for the most APPLICABLE and LIKELY TO HAPPEN.
For example, with Open Carry about to be passed here in Texas, how about some mandated advanced training on weapon retention? I know, I know, most gun right advocates HATE when you talk about an armed citizen having their gun taken away from them and killed with it, but guess what? It is a REALITY, it HAPPENS and it needs to be addressed in training. This stupid trend where trainers and citizens alike ignore or fail to address facts like these IN TRAINING or CONVERSATION simply because the topic is “unpopular” in the pro-gun community, needs to STOP. Just ask a cop how much training he has had on weapon retention. I know, I know, an armed citizen and a Law Enforcement officer do not have the same responsibilities or authority, and definitely are not expected to behave the same when they witness a crime; that is not what I am talking about. What people have to wrap their head around is that with open carry comes serious responsibility. Every citizen that decides to carry openly will face the same danger uniformed law enforcement does on a daily basis. Consider: At every confrontation you get in, there will always be one loaded gun present: YOURS. Ask yourself: Are you prepared to fight for your gun if some goon tries to snatch it? Are you in good enough PHYSICAL SHAPE to even do that? Do you have the tools in your toolbox RIGHT NOW to deal with that type of threat effectively? If the answer is No to any of these, then I have proved my point on people planning to Open Carry needing more Advanced Training than an 8 hour remedial gun course.
In closing, let me say that for far too long, the Pro-Gun, 2nd Amendment Movement has been all about advocating “Inherent Constitutional Rights” without, at the same time, advocating the “Inherent Constitutional Responsibility” that comes with those rights. We must understand that the very “under-pinning” or Foundation of a Democratic Society rest in the notion that these two ideals have always historically been held as mutually exclusive; they were never intended to be divorced from each other as they currently are in Obama’s socialist republic. In other words, the Founding Fathers of this Great Nation always had the expectation that a citizen must never expect to be given ANY RIGHT without first taking ownership of that right by being RESPONSIBLE in how it is administered and practiced.
This mindset has to change, if we intend to FIRST, function as a TRUE Democratic society and SECONDLY, to RETAIN our RIGHTS as FREE, ARMED MEN. Because only when we, as armed citizens, accept the SERIOUS RESPONSIBILITY and BURDEN that we carry, and in turn, let that responsibility produce WORTHWHILE PREPARATION, can we truly be worthy to inherit the rights laid out to us by the Founding Fathers and understand the blood that has been shed over the many centuries to keep those rights intact, were, in fact, shed for those responsible enough to realize it is their duty to do the same if the situation should ever call for it. And I think it will, very soon.
Stay Responsible, Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!
Reblogged this on Brittius.