The John Birch Society :: Truth Freedom Leadership

As delightful as sport shooting, gun collection, and hunting may be as recreational pursuits, the "right of the people to keep and bear arms" has nothing to do with such worthwhile hobbies, nor with the history of the Second Amendment.

Put in simple, unadorned terms, the right to bear arms in self-defense separates citizens from subjects. Any government that seeks to disarm the population is acting on totalitarian premises.

Vladimir Lenin, founder of Russia's Soviet Communist regime, defined his totalitarian philosophy of government in these words: "The scientific concept of dictatorship is nothing other than this – power without limit, resting directly on force."

Most modern political science texts, in describing government's role in society, offer some variation on the assertion that government has a "monopoly on the legitimate use of force." This is fundamentally the same as Lenin's prescription, differing only in the extent to which the state would exercise its monopoly. While most governments will not resort to the methods used by Lenin's regime – summary execution of entire sub-populations, confinement of millions to prison camps, engineered famine, creation of a huge secret police apparatus – every government that claims a monopoly on force is kindred to and only steps away from Lenin's totalitarian order.

The U.S. Constitution, by way of contrast, explicitly recognizes that the people, as an endowment from their Creator, have a right to use force in their own protection, and to protect their families, homes, and communities. That right is self-existing, where the coercive powers of government are derivative, delegated, and – most importantly – subject to revocation by the people when abused.

The Second Amendment's reference to a "well-regulated militia" lists one function of protecting that right, while acknowledging that the right existed anterior to government, and is not to be "infringed" or restricted in any way by the central government.

The constitutional republic created by the Constitution is likely the first and only government in history whose founding charter explicitly repudiates a monopoly on the use of force.