Our Right to Bear Arms

Guest Opinion

The origins of the right to bear arms are lost in the mists of time in the villages of old England with an obligation of all men (16 to 60) to practice with the long bow, help keep the peace, and serve in the local militia.

The gradual shift to firearms did not alter the ancient covenant. The advancement in armaments did make the crown nervous, and in 1541, Henry VIII passed a law restricting the ownership of handguns and crossbows, while in 1553, Edward VI ordered “all persons who shoot guns” to register their names with the local Justice of the Peace.

But it was not until after the English Civil War with the restoration of the monarchy that the first wholesale attempt was made to disarm the population. Wishing to force his religion on the English people, Charles II passed the Conventicle Act which outlawed meetings, allowed unlimited search and seizures, and did away with jury trails, overthrowing the traditional rights of the people under the Magna Carta, much like how President Donald Trump is allowing ICE to violate the Constitution.

Then in 1671, a new Game Law with rigid property qualifications was passed, which William Blackstone noted had the hidden intent of “prevention of popular insurrections and resistance to the government by disarming the bulk of the people.”

After the death of Charles, James II pursued the same policies with even greater vigor, using the private standing army Charles had established to cower resistance, until finally the English people had enough of his determination to shove religion down their throats, and with the help of William of Orange, overthrew the monarchy.

Before filling the vacant throne with William, the Convention Parliament thought it wise to protect themselves from arbitrary government and presented William and Mary with a Declaration of Rights, “true, ancient, and indubitable.” In that declaration was the right of all Protestant citizens to have arms for their defense. This was actually the first time that an individual right to bear arms was codified into English law.

Blackstone comments that all other rights are dependent on this “auxiliary” right and emphatically endorsed the view that keeping arms was necessary both for “the natural right of resistance and self-preservation,” and “to restrain the violence of oppression.”

Blackstone’s views are significant since his Commentaries became the authority and basis for Common Law in the newly-formed United States. Our Second Amendment takes into account this history, and while its language is obscure today, it was clear to the Founders.

William Rawle, George Washington’s candidate for the nation’s first attorney general, described the scope of the Second Amendment’s guarantee: “The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to congress a power to disarm the people.”

The Philadelphia Federal Gazette (June 18, 1789) explained the aims of the article when it was sent to the states for ratification: “As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed…in their right to keep and bear their private arms.”

Defense Secretary Hegseth has ordered the creation of 500-man army “quick reaction force” units for every state while hosting evangelical prayer services at the Pentagon in which his pastor praises President Donald Trump as “sovereignly appointed.” The President has pardoned everyone associated with Jan. 6. Will the Republicans give up power if they are voted out of office by the people in 2028?

In conclusion, I note that a law passed in Virginia in 1640 made it illegal for Black Americans to carry firearms, while a similar statute in Massachusetts (1648) made it illegal for Native Americans to possess powder or guns. The federal government did not protect freedmen and women from white Christian supremacists in the South after the Civil War. Racism is an inherent part of the Christian tradition, as Blacks, Native Americans, Asians, and Hispanics all can attest.

The Christian masters, be they kings, popes, Puritan clergy, southern plantation owners, robber barons exploiting labor, or modern multinational corporations poisoning our environment, always prefer that their underlings are unarmed.

Peter Bormuth is a Pagan Druid living in northern Michigan.

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