Ghosts are nun-ya-bizzness
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Give me Liberty
Rodger Williamson
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” (John Adams, 1735-1826)
Fact: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” (2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)
Fact: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” (4th Amendment to the United States Constitution)
Fact: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” (9th Amendment to the United States Constitution)
Fact: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” (10th Amendment to the United States Constitution)
Fact: “A law repugnant to the Constitution is void.” (Chief Justice John Marshall, in Marbury v. Madison, 1803)
Our nation, created by “We the People,” was founded upon the concept of liberty. The idea was to have a central federal government that was strong enough to defend our borders and to uphold our rights, leaving every other aspect of government rule, not listed within our Constitution as a power delegated by the people to the government, to be reserved to the states or the people. The overbearing, usurping federal behemoth government we have today would have given America’s founding fathers nightmares!
The “shot heard ‘round the world” that ignited our American Revolutionary War was fired at Lexington Green (outside of Boston), on the nineteenth of April of 1775. That stand-off occurred because the British government had sent their troops to seize weaponry from the lawfully assembled militia.
Our nation was literally founded upon the concept of armed resistance to tyranny. That concept, and similar others, led to our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. The 2nd Amendment within our Bill of Rights was specifically included to allow all citizens, at all times, to be armed and to be prepared to become the militia, against our very own federal government should the need ever occur.
The 4th Amendment specifically stated that “We the People” were to be left alone, unless an actual crime had been committed and a warrant had been signed by a judge, stating specifically what was to be searched. We now find ourselves with a federal government that records and holds every bit of data that we send back and forth, knowing even our own private and intimate thoughts. Despite the fact that there are the 9th and 10th amendments stating that our rights are unlimited, and that if it is not within the constitution, that it is not the domain of the federal government.
Our government has become a parasite, like a cancer, that has inserted itself into every fiber of our private lives. Under the guise of public safety this government has acted with impunity for decades upon decades to further strip away our individual rights, liberties and freedoms. That is not their job. My safety is my job, and your safety is your job. The job of our government is to defend our borders and to protect our rights.
On July 5, 2022, Federal District Court Judge Reed O’Connor ruled against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), a part of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), stating that they had gone beyond their “statutory jurisdiction in regulating partially manufactured firearms components, related firearm products, and other tools and materials.”
So called “ghost guns” have been, and will continue to be, in the news as the liberal left and conservative right publicly grapple with your constitutionally guaranteed civil rights. The term “ghost gun” was coined to refer to all guns that are not made by major firearms manufacturers and are therefore exempt from the unconstitutional rules that the major firearms manufacturers are required to follow. I halfway suspect that lobbyists for the major firearms manufacturers here in the U.S. are, if not responsible, at least culpable, as the ATF has latched onto the concept that gunsmiths, who work from their own home, should not be allowed to create a product that competes with products made by big corporations.
I don’t care what they make, whether it’s a lemonade stand on the corner being run by some of the neighborhood children, or baked goods made for a church bake sale, or a local hot-rod mechanic who fabricates his own parts on his machine tools, or a gun-builder who hand finishes incomplete parts to create a marketable product, they all do so because it will help put food on their family’s table or improve their standard of living.
It is NOT the business of our federal government to get involved in minute details of the everyday lives of the everyday citizen, at least according to the very constitution that created that government, and that every agent and office holder swore to uphold.
With no regard to their oath to the constitution, the ATF filed an appeal and asked the court to overturn the injunction and allow the regulation of ghost guns to stay in place while the case is making its way through the appeals process. On July 24, the court denied the ATF’s appeal, stating that “the ATF has not demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits, nor irreparable harm in the absence of a stay.”
The ATF then filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court asking that their ghost gun rule be allowed to stay in place while the case is proceeding through the system. In a shocking turn, our Supreme Court recently voted 5-4 to allow the ATF to continue enforcement of their re-interpretation of a law that is clearly repugnant to our constitution.
On the surface, this seems puzzling to me, but there was a Latin phrase that the SCOTUS used that gives me hope that they may have a solid plan in place. The term used in their ruling was a “writ of certiorari” – which means that the Supreme Court has left the door open for the case to eventually come before them.
While I find it unfortunate that for the time being the ATF can continue their harassment of otherwise everyday law-abiding citizens, it is my hope that because the Supreme Court opened the door for this case to come before them they will properly shut the ATF down for their re-interpretation of law, usurpation of liberty and excessive over-reach.