Rise for the Second!

By: Chris Johnson

One of the greatest threats we face in our day is the increasing threat to the Second Amendment.  Serious and responsible gun ownership as the norm seems to be a thing of the past. The organizations which have promoted wise and responsible gun use in the past are attacked for being radical in the media, when in actuality they have weakened their stances and capitulated to infringements on this vital human right.

Under President Biden, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been allowed to make arbitrary and irrational decrees which limit the legitimate uses of firearms for responsible gun owners. The use of novelty items like “bump stocks” and kits for easily crafting our own weapons (often smeared as “ghost guns”) being only the most recent examples.

Meanwhile, Democrats consider it a waste of a good crisis if they don’t pass stricter gun control laws after each tragic misuse of a firearm.

The unfortunate and immature response to this overreach has often not been calls for personal responsibility, but an aggression which feeds the narrative of gun owners being braggadocios, looking for a fight.

So how do we strike the balance between being passive and being bombastic?

That’s the goal of “Rise for the Second.” This project, launched by our friends who built our website, has adopted this worthy cause, not only to help build a culture of mature and responsible gun ownership, but as a way to support veterans.

At their website, RiseForTheSecond.com, you can add your name to a petition in support of responsible gun use and ownership, but you can also find merchandise in the shop, where 50% of profits go to benefit veterans.

Signing the petition simply signifies your support for this statement: “Supporting our heroic veterans and promoting a culture of sportsmanship, defense and responsible use of the second amendment.”

Their About page, however, lays out as clearly as anything I’ve seen elsewhere what the fight over gun control is  really all about.

Rise for the Second cherishes our right to bear arms. The second amendment protects against two fundamental errors underlying the modern American obsession with “Gun Control”:

The first error is that humans are fundamentally good. Unfortunately, humans can be disturbingly unstable and violent. It is naive, unfortunately, to believe in “man’s fundamental goodness”. Even if just 5% of our population were mentally unstable and/or prone to violence, that would put 15,000,000 such people in our midst or 300,000 in each of our States. This leads by direct line to the right of self defense. The only equalizer for people in the face of aggressive violence is a gun. People have an absolute right to self defense and this means guns are a fundamental right for individuals and families to defend themselves against unjust aggressors.

The second error is that “democracies” are de facto worthy of the name and that they will continue to be so in perpetuity. People have a right collectively to defend themselves against a tyrannical government. It is historically ignorant to say “such things could never happen in the United States”. In fact, the only commonality of history is people keeping unjust governments at bay through collective and organized defense. The post liberal optimism around liberal democracy’s merits, while in many ways well founded, cannot fall complacent to governments tendency toward the further eclipse of rights.

In summary, instead of fracturing our attention between the endless flood of bills, legal initiatives, and groups, we seek a cultural renewal. This renewal will hold high the positive values of sportsmanship, hunting, and most importantly the individual and collective right and necessity of self defense. The right to defense is truly inalienable. If you support the second amendment and stand against the erroneous desire to limit this right’s breadth, please join us by signing the petition and pledging to be a positive and responsible citizen in our great county.

The second amendment is a bulwark against thugary, gangs, violence and tyranny. Good and law-abiding citizens who nobly and responsibly bear arms make our world safer, secure peace for future generations, and enable us to more easily live in gratitude for the gifts we share.”

I urge you to head over to RiseForTheSecond.com and sign their petition!

 

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