There is more to the U. S. Constitution than the 2nd Amendment

The NRA and others cite the Second Amendment as giving individuals the right to bear arms.  One justification they give is "the people" need arms to protect themselves against "the government".  However, they neglect Article II, Sec 8, of the Constitution:  Congress has the power "to call out the militia to suppress insurrection".

If you use your guns to "protect you" from the government, then you are involved in an insurrection.  If you are in an insurrection, then the Constitution gives Congress the power to suppress your insurrection.  Suppressing an insurrection includes taking the guns from those in the insurrection.

George Washington was involved in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion, a tax revolt from 1791-1794.  See "Whiskey Rebellion", Wikipedia.  The Whiskey Rebellion was quite a complicated affair, but popular support seemed to be in favor of the suppression of the rebellion.  Another interesting point that some make: it was also a conflict between large distillers who paid less per gallon than small, individual distillers who paid more per gallon.

The last great Republican President put the down the biggest insurrection of all, the Civil War.

See also "Is the N.R.A. Un-American", Stanley Fish, New York Times, 2013-05-13.

Ron Paul for President? Listen carefully

We heard an interview yesterday on NPR with Ron Paul, a libertarian candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination.  He sounded very sincere and reasonable and made some important points contrary to current political "wisdom".  But then I realized his underlying assumption, which makes him a bad choice for governing a complex nation.

He assumes that this country was founded to promote individual liberty.  I think those who wrote the Constitution would disagree.  Their idea was to have the liberty to govern ourselves rather than be governed by a foreign power.  Personal liberties were an afterthought.  Even then, many of these signers went on to curtail "personal liberties".  Like George Washington leading the troops against a tax rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion.  Like the "Alien and Sedition Act" signed by John Adams.