American Patriot Pamphlets #3
by Ralph Boryszewski
MILITIAS AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
Copyright 1996
All Rights Reserved
permission was granted by Ralph Boryszewski
http://www.frontiernet.net/~ralphb1/
to Gene Karl
http://www.no-debts.com/anti-federalist/index.html
to place this information on the internet.
Foundation for Rights
P.O. Box 17699
Rochester, New York 14617
$1.00 each
5 or more $.50 each
MILITIAS AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
Most people think the phrase "a well regulated militia, being
necessary
to the security of a free State" implies that an outside or
foreign
power is the threat that should be most feared by the people.
Not so.
"The security of a free State" is generally threatened by the
government
within. Therefore, in a free state, the right of the people to
keep and
bear arms, should especially be guarded. The easiest way to
infringe on
this most basic of rights is to permit the central government to
disparage the power contained in Article 2 of the Bill of
Rights. We
must educate the people to stop believing that the articles of
the Bill
of Rights are amendments to the Constitution which would make
their
meaning subject to judicial interpretation or constitutional
repeal.
The truth is that the Bill of Rights can be a direct check by
juries on
the actions of Congress, the President and the Courts. This
being the
case, the officers of the three departments of government must
hold the
Bill of Rights in the highest reverence. If the officers of the
government respect the intended purpose of the Bill of Rights as
a
direct check upon the federal government, they cannot in good
faith be
bound by oath to support the Constitution as "the supreme law of
the
land." The checker, not the checked, is the supreme authority
and all of
our public servants must continually be made aware of it.
The Constitutional Convention established in clause 15 of
section 8 of
Article I, a provision "for calling forth the militia to execute
the
laws of the Union" and to "suppress insurrections." In clause 16
the
Convention stated that "Congress shall have the power to provide
for
organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia and for
governing such
part of them as may be employed in the service of the United
States..."
The Convention also provided that "The President shall be
commander in
chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the
militia of
the several States, when called into the actual service of the
United
States." Note that the militia would not be able to carry out
its
primary duty of protecting "the security of a free State" if it
submitted to being called "to execute the laws of the Union" and
to
"suppress insurrections." Congress is without the power to limit
the
three direct basic checking powers of the people contained in
the Bill
of Rights. They are the peoples' militia and their grand and
trial
juries. If Congress would be allowed the powers contained in
Article I
section 8 clause 16 of "disciplining the militia," the entire
concept of
the Bill of Rights and freedom for the people would be destroyed
by a
body (Congress) to which the people granted only limited powers.
In 1798 the federal government engaged in hostile acts toward
France.
Many Americans were upset because the French people had helped
us win
our war for independence. They believed that a war against Great
Britain
would better suit our purpose, for the British navy was
impressing our
seamen and the British land forces were inciting Indians to
massacre
men, women and children in new settlements, In July, 1798 the
government
passed the Sedition Act, which made it a high misdemeanor,
punishable by
fine and imprisonment, to oppose execution of the national laws;
to
prvent a federal officer from performing his duties; and to aid
or
attempt "any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or
combination." A
fine of $2,000 and imprisonment of up to two years was mandated
for
persons convicted of publishing "any false, scandalous and
malicious
writing" bringing into disrepute the United States government,
Congress,
or the President. Many of the people became very angry and
committed
acts of defiance against the federal government. Congress at
that time
didn't call 'forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union,
[and]
suppress insurrections" as provided in clause 15 of section 8
because it
knew the militia from the various states would not respond in
support of
their Sedition Act, which was in violation of the Bill of
Rights. Under
Article I section 8 Congress has the power "to declare war" "to
raise
and support armies' and "to provide and maintain a navy" but no
one
would volunteer to serve in the army or navy of the United
States in an
unpopular war. Historians never gave credit to the armed and
brave men
of the state militias who prevented a war at that time by openly
demonstrating their contempt against the federal government for
its
belligerence towards France.
With the adoption of the Bill of Rights as a direct check in
the hands
of the people and the states, it was necessary that clause 15 of
section
8 of the Constitution be repealed. Congress could no longer call
forth
the militia, which according to Article 2 of the Bill of Rights
was
"necessary to the security of a free State." The militia was not
to be
deployed by the central government, which is itself often a
threat to
the liberties of the people.
Furthermore, the militia, as a check in the hands of the people
of the
individual states as provided by Article 2 of the Bill of Rights
could
not be "called into the actual service of the United States"
where "The
President shall be [their] commander in chief" for that would
also
entail the "organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia" as
directed by Congress. This action would render the states
defenseless,
and they would be at the mercy of the federal government. The
states
created the federal government so that it could serve them, not
the
other way around. With the adoption of the Bill of Rights, it
was
essential that both clause 16 of section 8 of Article I and a
part of
clause 1 of section 2 of Article II be repealed. If Congress and
the
President were empowered to discipline and govern the militia
that "may
be employed in the service of the United States," then the
militia could
purposely be made unavailable for the protection of the rights
of the
people and the security of a free state, guaranteed by Article 2
of the
Bill of Rights. The army and navy commanded by the federal
government
were intended to protect us from an outside force. The states
and their
militia were intended to protect us from tyranny and dangers
from
within. As a last resort from foreign dangers, the militias
within each
state would protect their own people.
If things were working properly the Texas state militia should
have
helped defend the Branch Davidians against the federal forces of
the
BATF and FBI -- trained and guided by military advisers using
military
weapons and tanks, a clear case of the army being used against
citizens.
One student stopped a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square in
China. In
Waco the tanks went through the wall and ejected a gas reserved
for
wartime use and incinerated eighty-six men, women and children.
And our
country has been critical of the Chinese government's civil
rights
violations!
In most matters the federal government was to be separate and
apart
from the state government. The people originally insisted that
the
federal government was to be very limited in its authority. The
militia
was never meant to be "called into the actual service of the
United
States." The lawyers who dominated the federal government had a
different slant. They wanted more power but they needed money to
gain
it. In 1790, Congress levied a direct excise tax upon whiskey.
This
caused a great deal of unrest, for whiskey was the farmer's
principal
medium to market his surplus grain. When the farmers threatened
to
resist payment of the tax, Congress enacted a law which
authorized the
President to call out the militia in case of an insurrection.
The
strongest resistence to the tax was centered in western
Pennsylvania.
Washington issued a proclamation commanding all insurgents to
submit to
federal authority. Upon their failure to do so he proceeded to
call out
13,000 militiamen mostly from Pennsylvania. In time, many men
who were a
part of the militia refused to help when it became apparent that
the
central government was attempting to enlarge upon its own powers
to the
detriment of the people and the states.
When Congress declared war in June, 1812, the General Assembly
of
Connecticut condemned the war. In New Hampshire there was
official
protest against "rash, and ruinous measures." The Massachusetts
House of
Representatives responded by issuing an "Address to the people"
in which
they declared the war against the public interest and asserted
that
"there be no volunteers except for defensive war," according to
the
Constitution. The Governors of Connecticut and Massachusetts
refused to
furnish their respective militias to the federal government. The
New
York State militia even refused to reinforce American troops who
had
crossed the Niagara River to engage Canadians in combat "on the
grounds
that their military service did not require them to leave the
state."
In all of these actions, the leaders of the people and their
militias
were properly following the Bill of Rights. By remaining in
their
respective states where their immediate strength is at all times
necessary, a free people will always enjoy "the security of a
free
State." History has repeatedly shown that central governments
pose a
greater threat to their own citizens than do outside forces.
That was
the reason why the people in the ratifying conventions had
insisted that
their right "to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." With
arms
always in their possession, the people in the various areas and
communities could form into militias.
To be effective in its purpose the militia had to have leaders
previously chosen by those same militiamen. To fight Indians or
others,
those leaders had to organize the various groups as military
teams and
then fix or adjust the time, amount and rate of fire power so
that it
could effectively be directed at the enemy and not other teams
who could
be in the line of fire. This is what is meant by the term "a
well
regulated militia." Those who think themselves expert
constitutionalists
are in great error when they tell you that the central
government must
ensure that "a well regulated militia" is always on standby. Not
true.
The militia was intended by the people to resist any outside
force,
including the federal government, if it violated either the Bill
of
Rights or the Constitution.
In America the militia was and still is today any armed force
regulated
or otherwise that could be called upon to repel any internal or
outside
force that encroached upon the rights and liberties of the
people or who
would invade "the security of a free State." To accomplish this,
the
people must never let any government deprive them of their
absolute
right "to keep and bear arms." It's an absolute right because
the
rights, liberties and freedoms enumerated in all of the other
provisions
in the Bill of Rights are meaningless if any government, foreign
or
domestic, could intrude upon a free people. It is important to
state
here that the Bill of Rights merely lists and guarantees rights
all
persons have that are inherent in the human condition. It does
not grant
them. In the case of the Second Article it is clear that the
phrase
"shall not be infringed" recognizes a pre-existing right not to
be
tampered with.
For further information on this and many other topics of
interest to
American citizens, write for the book, 'The Constitution That
Never Was'
by Ralph Boryszewski. Send check or money order for $20 + $3
s/h. (New
York State residents include sales tax.) to Foundation for
Rights, PO
Box 17699, Rochester, New York 14617.
