Oh Sacred Honor

The Declaration of Independence ends with a statement, ostensibly directed towards the Framers themselves, but in a deeper sense, it is a promise to King George as well as future generations of Americans.  In a real sense, the Framers were writing directly to you….

“…with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

There were two separate objectives with this closing line:  1) Let the world know we are “all in”.  and 2) Let future generations of Americans know that the defense against tyranny is not without real sacrifice.

We have grown and lived with the blessings of liberty secured by brave men and women who, at times were called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  We tend to look at these individuals as selfless giants that gave all, so our Constitution may survive.

We often overlook the individual that sits in her office until the early hours of the morning researching the law so that she can present an argument in defense of her client.  An act of civic virtue so basic to our experiment in limited government that without her our Republic instantly fails.

We overlook the “activist”.  The coffee house philosopher that questions the status quo and agitates for change.

We overlook the solider… no… not the SF operator that daily goes in harms way and has movies made about him… rather the mechanic, or the intel analyst, or the Quartermaster or the flight deck officer, that while not exactly the “tip of the spear” is the spear itself.

We also overlook ourselves.  We go about our daily lives doing the things that need to be done to take care of ourselves and our family.  We care little for politics… save the the bright shiny things that require our notice and outrage, so we are not left out of our office water cooler discussions.

“We” however were part of the audience that the Framers were talking to.

More specifically YOU are.

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Tyranny is a beast that arises naturally from the inherent nature of man’s desire to control the destinies of other men.  (Forgive the masculine language, but I’m on a roll right now.)

Tyranny does not take place within a vacuum.  It requires the active participation of both sides of the equation: the rulers and the subjects.

When the subjects have had enough of their rulers, they assert their power granted them by the Creator and alter their own status to that of Citizen.

Our Framers envisioned a county where Citizens were always in control.  They crafted a government that had only limited enumerated powers to ensure that this dichotomy would remain intact.

Yet, we must never forget… many of us live outside the philosophical United States… we live in California.

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As gun owners, we are for the most part philosophically different from most other people on this planet.  We are individualists.  That is not to say that collectivists don’t own guns.  Some of course do, but in no where near the numbers as individualists do.  We are however not individualists because we own guns… we own guns, because the gun is the ultimate reminder that we are ultimately responsible for our own safety and protection.  (Well, that… and they look bitch’n and are fun to shoot).

Individualists are very often patriots.

We love our country not for the pageantry that is the American Experience… some of it is pretty dark, and we would be the first to point that out.  We are patriots, because the ideals that were set forth in the Declaration and the Constitution are in our opinion immutable.  They are “First Truths” that give dignity to the individual.

Collectivists don’t necessarily feel that way.

California is governed by Collectivists.

Tyrants have always, and will always be collectivists.  They must be.  For it is the subjugation of the collective that gives the tyrant the false promise of power.  Individualists that antagonize the collectivists, through word, deed or action are an existential threat to the tyrant.  That is one of the reasons that guns are so anathema to them.

With a gun, two things happen:  The subject becomes self reliant, and the State loses a degree of power.

Neither are endearing of the tyrant.

Our Framers did not want revolutions to necessarily be bloody affairs, but they also knew that revolutions needed to happen from time to time as those entrenched in power would seek to fortify their positions.  That is human nature, and to check against that natural progression we created checks and balances, as well as an acknowledgment that power was ultimately rooted in the people.

To that end we “institutionalized” revolution through the power of the ballot.

When people vote tyrants out of office, they are effectively engaging in a bloodless coup.  An institutionalized insurgency, that reflects on the brilliance of our Framers.

Yet for this to work properly, people must actually vote!

I referenced those heroes that are given little notice earlier… you are one of them.

You must engage.  You must vote.  You must embrace the mantle of Citizen and refuse now and forever to be a Subject.

Two weeks ago, Steve Tarnai was here at Artemis teaching a class on Weapons Retention.  Twenty some odd people were here for two days, learning how to manipulate their weapons in such a manner as to reduce the potential for an adversary to disarm them.

Hours were spent working through the steps necessary to retain a weapon against a hypothetical adversary….

Yet, real adversaries exist that right now are trying to disarm you!  The majority of the Legislature in California as well as the Governor believe you should be disarmed.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has tortured logic to such an extreme in an effort to limit the Second Amendment, that they have damaged other areas of the law, and made themselves into a national joke.  The intellectual veracity of the Court has been infected by those on the bench that are “outcome determinative”.  As a result, the inherent power of the Court has been degraded.

So… you have these arrayed forces of collectivism before you.  All salivating at the opportunity to take your weapons and disarm you… and you do:

Nothing.

Well perhaps that is not entirely fair.  You do bitch.  You Kvetch.  You click on “dislike” buttons on Facebook.

That is not enough.

I urge you to all go to home.nra.org and become a member of the NRA.

Then… for those of you who live in California:  go to CRPA.ORG and join the California Rifle and Pistol Association.  These two organizations are the leading advocates that protect our gun rights both on a National and a State level.

Then VOTE!

To exercise that right you must take the responsibility to inform yourself on the candidates and the issues.  We have a unique opportunity to be educated this month.  There are two announced candidates for next years Orange County Sheriff’s election:  Undersheriff Don Barnes, and Aliso Viejo Mayor Dave Harrington.  Don Barnes was at Artemis last Thursday night.   He spoke on his vision on the Department and the OCSD policy on CCW’s.   Dave Harrington will be coming in on Thursday Oct. 25th from 6pm to 8pm for the same opportunity to address you.  Call in and reserve your seat… show both these candidates that you are interested in engaged!

You are a patriot… act like one!