A FEARFUL MASTER
A Look at our God Given Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Gary Ray Branscome
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is a force, like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful
master."
(George Washington)
The difference between free government and tyranny is the
difference between a servant and a master, and the governments that held sway
in
In discussing this situation, I
have often heard people speak disapprovingly of the freedom that existed under
the judges, as if that freedom was contrary to the will of God. However, the
Bible makes it clear that such was not the case at all (1Samuel 8). The
problems that developed toward the end of the period of the judges stemmed from
poor law enforcement coupled with political corruption. It was up to the people
to enforce the law, and they were not doing their job. As a result, they
thought it would be good to have a king to enforce the law for them, only to learn
too late that life under a king was far worse.
While the right of the
people to keep and bear arms goes hand in hand with freedom, and godly rulers
should find security in the fact that the people are armed, would-be tyrants
have always felt intimidated by guns in the hands of the people.
When Abraham learned that
David had his own private militia,
which Saul wanted to outlaw. Nevertheless, David was doing the will of God, and
used his militia to fight the enemies of
When soldiers asked John the
Baptist how they should live, he did not tell them to get out of the military.
Instead he cautioned them to be content with their wages, not oppressing or
falsely accusing any man (Luke
Jesus did not urge His disciples to
arm themselves because He wants us to get into fights. On the contrary, He
wants us to try to live in peace (Romans
In ancient
1- Anti-gun legislation adopted by
2- Anti-gun legislation adopted by
3- Anti-gun legislation adopted by
4- Anti-gun legislation adopted by
While many other examples could be given, the sad fact is
that since World War Two, more people have been killed by partial or total
genocide than have been killed in international warfare. That being the case,
we need to realize that governments are the source of tyranny as well as protection.
Furthermore, since Christ advised us to arm ourselves, and has not forbidden us
to keep and bear arms, no ruler should forbid us to do so.
While God wants rulers to serve us by being a terror to evildoers, Satan
wants rulers to be a terror to the law abiding, while letting many crimes go
unpunished (1Peter 2:14, Romans 13:1-4, Ecclesiastes 8:11). In fact,
Satan hates freedom, and always works to replace it with either license or
tyranny. At present, one tactic that he has been using to take away freedom has
to do with a redefinition of the role of a servant. He would have rulers claim
to be serving us by making themselves our masters. Likewise, he would have
rulers regulate the law-abiding in the name of preventing crime, while
endorsing and protecting such crimes as abortion (1Timothy 1:9). He also wants
rulers to abuse their power by robbing some so that they might appear as
benefactors to others — benefactors at someone else's expense (Luke
I might also add that Satan likes
nothing better than to get Christians involved in this perversion of the role
of government. If misguided Christians succeed in making government the master,
he gets what he wants, and the people who oppose the abuse of power wind up
blaming Christians. Sadly, there are far too many Christians who eagerly do
Satan's will in this regard without even realizing it.
Our national Constitution does not
give us any rights, but instead simply recognizes
rights that existed long before it was written. Those rights exist because God,
not the earthly rulers, is sovereign, and would-be tyrants hate no right more
than the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
Because the men who founded this
country knew the importance of that right, they drafted the Second Amendment in
order to make certain that it was protected. Nevertheless, the enemies of
freedom have tried hard to get around what the Second Amendment says, even
though its meaning is perfectly clear. In fact, that amendment was carefully
explained to each state legislature during the ratification process, and the
discussion was carefully recorded. The intent of the men who drafted that
amendment was also explained by Federalist papers 28 and 29. In short, since
the word “regulate”, in 18th century usage, meant to train or
discipline, the second amendment is saying, “a well trained militia being
necessary to the security of a
That amendment consists of only one
sentence. The subject of the sentence is the word “right”. The verb
is the phrase “shall be infringed” modified by the adverb
“not”. It is the right of the people, not the right of the states
or the military, which is not to be infringed upon. Therefore, those who deny
this fact are either confused or dishonest
While the word
“liberal” has historically been applied to those who believe in the
freedom that comes with moral responsibility. The cult that now
dominates American schools and politics has succeeded in identifying that word
with the usurpation of freedom and rejection of responsibility known as
socialism. As a result, those who claim to be liberal (at least in
Ideologically these false liberals
are in the same camp with every brutal socialist tyrant that has cast a shadow
of fear over the twentieth century. And like those socialist dictators, the
false science of evolution is at the root of their tyranny and its
corresponding abandonment of morality. Like such “liberals” as
Margaret Sanger, Hitler appealed to the false science of eugenics to justify
genocide, and Psychiatrists took the lead in initiating much of that genocide.
Stalin, in turn, appealed to Marx's false science of economics to justify his
brutality, while American “liberals” are infatuated with the
pseudo-science of B. F. Skinner, who called for the abolition of freedom in his
book “Beyond Freedom And Dignity.”
Furthermore, because liberalism has its roots in atheism, its driving force is
a pure hatred for Biblical authority, and it wants to remove every trace of
Christianity from our government.
One continual source of frustration
in dealing with these modern enemies of freedom has been their willingness to
lie in order to promote their ideology. They will, and do, use false
statistics, distorted facts, misleading terminology, and carefully planned
deception to promote their secular religion without feeling the least bit of
shame. Judges refuse to follow the rule of law, while politicians twist the
meaning of the Constitution to suit themselves.
Many in the media promote legislation
subversive to freedom, while suppressing any facts that would expose their
campaign of deception. In fact, one of their most commonly repeated lies is the
claim that gun control will reduce crime. Yet, the evidence reveals the
opposite to be the case, especially in regard to women. The more likely a woman
is to be armed, the less likely she is to be attacked. [Could that be one
reason that Bill Clinton wants women disarmed?] Furthermore,
Since the lust for power is all too
real, a nation with a professional army and disarmed citizens is ripe for
tyranny, and history has shown that rulers are all too willing to use the army
to impose their will upon the people. That is why the English Bill of Rights
(1689) says:
“Thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal
and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now
assembled in a full and free representative of this nation… asserting
their ancient rights and liberties declare… that the raising or keeping a
standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of
parliament, is against law; that the subjects which are Protestants may have
arms for their defense.”
By placing the militia under the authority of congress, our
Constitution creates a balance of power that was undermined in 1918, when the
National Guard (which is essentially a branch of the Army) replaced the
militia. During the English civil was, the English
learned the importance of an armed citizenry the hard way, when the militia (under
the leadership of Parliament) fought the army of King Charles. If that lesson
is forgotten, future generations may be forced to learn it again, suffering
unnecessary brutality because of our negligence.
The Declaration of Rights adopted
by
“That a well regulated militia, composed
of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe
defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be
avoided, as dangerous to liberty; and that, in all cases, the military should
be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.”
George Washington stated his views concerning the importance
of an armed citizenry in a
“To prove… the Policy and expediency of
resting the protection of the Country on a respectable and well established
Militia, we might not only shew the propriety…
from our peculiar local situation, but we might have recourse to the Histories
of Greece and Rome in their most virtuous and Patriotic ages… we might
see, with admiration, the Freedom and Independence of Switzerland supported for
Centuries, in the midst of powerful and jealous neighbors, by means of a hardy
and well organized Militia… It may be laid down as a primary position,
and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a
free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his
personal services to the defense of it, and consequently that the Citizens of
America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age
should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far
accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be
called forth at a Short Notice.”
1- Defend and preserve our God given right to
keep and bear arms.
2- Reduce the size of our professional army to a minimum, replacing it
with a citizen army as the founders of our nation intended,
a citizen army such as they have in
3- Abolish the private armies maintained by unconstitutional regulatory
agencies such as the BATF, the IRS, the INS, etc.
Since our constitution calls for a militia, that militia has
historically consisted of every able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 44.
Furthermore, although you rarely hear it said, the militia, by that definition,
still exists under federal law (10 U.S.C. Section
311). That is why militia groups that are following that law are perfectly
legal. Moreover, In article one section eight, our
Constitution authorizes the militia (under the direction of congress) to
execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion. In
the words of Patrick Henry, “The great object is,
that every man be armed… Every one who is able may have a gun.” [Spoken during the Virginia Convention on the ratification of the
Constitution.]
“The
laws that forbid the carrying of arms… disarm only those who are neither
inclined nor determined to commit crimes… Such laws make things worse for
the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than
to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater
confidence than an armed man.” Thomas Jefferson, “Commonplace
Book,” 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist
Cesare Beccaria, 1764
I recommend
the book, “AN ARMED SOCIETY” by Stephen P. Holbrook