In Alabama, Senate Bill 24 is back for another round this year. It’s failed multiple years in a row thanks to the unconstitutional Sheriffs in this state, their criminal organization known as the Alabama Sheriff’s Association, and former Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard who still hasn’t reported to prison for his felony ethics convictions.
These Sheriffs have come year after year fear mongering about safety concerns. Never mind that 11 other states already have the non-infringed right to carry a firearm more commonly referred to as “Constitutional Carry.” Their concerns are warrantless and have been proven to be nothing more than a dubious effort to retain a power that no government should hold.
Ignoring those concerns, as they are meaningless once you truly understand what rights are, the right to self-defense is absolute. It is a natural right which is the source of the right to keep and bear arms. This right does not come from the US Constitution or the state constitutions, and it does not/cannot come from any government. There is no authority, that any government may possess, to infringe upon a natural right. This right, being natural, predates all institutions of government. There is no legitimate power of government which does not derive its authority from the rights of the people. If the people do not possess a right to engage in a certain activity how can any government be delegated authority to the contrary?
To understand where our rights come from we can take a look at the Declaration of Independence for some insight. Thomas Jefferson made it abundantly clear that our rights come from our Creator and that the powers of government are derived from the consent of the governed, when he stated,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,”
If we take the words of Jefferson, and analyze them, it can only be reasoned that government cannot have any power that the people do not first consent to them possessing. Logically, the people can only consent to delegating powers if they possess those powers (or right) themselves. If the people do not have the right to something how can they logically grant or delegate those powers to the government? It does not follow that they may. For example, as an individual I have no more right to tell you that you can’t defend yourself than you have a right to demand I pay you a percentage of my wealth. Since neither of us possess this right it does not follow that either of us can legitimately delegate any such power unto the government.
This is the crux of my argument. It matters not what any piece of paper says. Whether it’s the state or federal constitution that enumerates a right that right does not derive itself from ink and parchment. No government can legitimately claim the authority to regulate a natural right. In this case, it being the right to self-defense.
It would be to our benefit if we would all come to this understanding. In order to dismantle Leviathan we have to know its limitations. Unless we look beyond ink and paper we will never achieve that goal.
