"And that said Constitution be never construed to
authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of
conscience, or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable
citizens, from keeping their own arms."
~ Samuel Adams, 1789 ~
There’s been much discussion over the years, as well as recently on the SASS
Wire, about whether or not felons should be allowed to keep and bear arms after
serving their prison time. I
don’t know if we will ever come to a national consensus on this issue but
being the Absolutist that I am, I’ll just offer up the view from my saddle and
you all can take aim at it.
Anytime
I encounter questions of human rights such as this one, I first look to see if
our founders had anything to say about it by searching both the Constitution and
throughout their personal writings—such as the Federalist and other letters.
Since
I believe these men were as close to divinely inspired as anyone could come when
drafting our Constitution and giving birth to America, I don’t think we can go
far wrong following their advice on much of anything.
Sam
Adams, one of the more passionate of our founders, addressed this issue and
clearly stated his version of the Second Amendment Absolutist philosophy that he
and I share. Adams
unambiguously said that those who are “peaceable citizens” should not be
barred from keeping their own arms. That’s
pretty clear in my view!
Now
it occurs to me that violent felons, as opposed to non-violent felons, are not
the "peaceable citizens" to whom Adams was referring where the right
to keep their own arms is concerned.
Violent felons have proven incapable or unworthy of retaining many of their
rights. By their own choice of life’s many possible career paths, they have
removed themselves from the "peaceable citizen" category...if I
understand Adams correctly.
My Absolutist philosophy applies to that same
peaceable citizen to whom Adams referred—always has and always will.
Throughout my years of thinking about, speaking on and writing about such
things, I have always maintained that criminal behavior is what should be
the basis and focus of punishment, not the peaceable citizen or the tool used in
the commission of a crime. My columns over the years never wavered from that
absolute stand and, as demonstrated by Adams, the founders shared that position.
By its very nature, a felony is the more serious of crimes—serious enough that
when one decides to follow a felons' way of life, they in fact choose to
surrender many of the rights peaceable citizens inalienably enjoy.
Does the felon surrender them forever? I think it depends on the crime. Is there
a difference between a little milk toasty weasel who dipped his hands into the
cash drawer and a cold-blooded killer? I’d say so.
If the felony is a non-violent crime such as a first
and one time conviction for embezzlement by that little weasel let’s say, and
he pays his debt to society and it is determined he can rightfully resume his
role as a peaceable citizen, then I agree with Adams, as I always have.
If however, one leads a violent life of murder,
robbery, rape or assault or he is a career felon with a record as long as your
arm and it’s determined he has not shown or cannot resume the life of a
peaceable citizen then the answer is no to keeping arms—again, just as Sam
Adams sees it.
Common sense judgment about human shades of gray is needed here in terms of
convicted felons and their particular nature and crimes.
Can these shades of gray be argued, discussed, pondered and adjudicated where
felons and the seriousness of those crimes are concerned? Absolutely, and they
will and should be in a country like America.
In fact, our founders provided for just such latitude when establishing
the basis of the legal system we have in this country.
Now are there any shades of gray in the right to keep and bear arms where
peaceable citizens are concerned? Absolutely Not!
In terms of the peaceable citizen, there’s no question in my mind and never
has been a question or even the slightest doubt of my personal conviction—"...shall
not be infringed" is absolute. That's exactly what the founders
wrote because that's exactly what they meant and no amount of gun-grabbing legal
babble can ever change the truth of that. On this, Sam and I are again of like mind!
Just the view from my saddle—absolutely.