“Disband your army and return to Rome . . . immediately!” the letter read.
Julius Caesar looked at it, appalled. Rome wanted him to step down from his position of power and disband his standing army.
“Not going to happen,” Caesar thought to himself. “In fact, I’ve got a little surprise for you . . .”
Caesar rallied his 13th legion army and marched straight to Rome’s border, stopping at the ‘illegal’ river.
It’s called ‘illegal’ because ANY army who passes the river will become an enemy of the state and immediately sentenced to death.
Julius stopped. He knew what that meant. If he screwed up, he’d sacrifice everything: his army, reputation, family, and most of all . . . his power.
Caesar could still turn back now, but in doing so, he’d miss out on the very rare opportunity to become . . .
. . . the most powerful dictator in history.
Caesar smiled. He wouldn’t pass up that opportunity for the world. So, he crossed the ‘illegal’ river and stormed the defenseless city of Rome.
The result?
Julius Caesar took over Rome and established himself as Rome’s dictator . . . for LIFE. With it came a loss of freedoms and liberties. The cause of it all could be traced back to one thing:
The standing army.
The Founding Fathers feared standing armies the most. They believed it was freedom’s #1 enemy. To protect us from it, they drafted . . .
The 2nd Amendment.
Here’s what they wrote:
“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)
They’ve got a point if you think about it:
The standing army is equipped with ALL the weapons — AR15s with scopes (technically called M16s), tanks, airplanes — and the experience to take down ANY nation.
That’s scary.
What if — like Julius Caesar — our same standing army was ordered to attack the people? Would we be able to defend ourselves?
Of course not.
We’d be burned to a crisp overnight. With it, everything that makes us American would go with it: our rights, civil liberties, and freedom would go down the drain.
Then, after we’ve been turned to ashes, a dictator will rise to rule the world with an iron fist just like Hitler.
But lucky for us, our Founders were smart. They learned from history and built a defense against freedom’s #1 enemy . . .
An Armed Militia.
But there was an unforeseen problem with it:
The soldiers themselves.
Let me explain:
Militias are run by the common man. That’s a great thing until the common man disagrees with politics (which happens every day). This can lead to catastrophe.
To illustrate what I mean, let me put you into the shoes of a common man serving the militia:
It’s 1787. You’ve just been hired to serve in a state militia along with your buddies. Recently, the governor just passed a law that taxes everyone more.
“Ain’t nobody gonna take my hard-earned money!” you complain. “Why don’t they come and get it?!”
Your friends nod in agreement with their rifles and you guys storm the local courthouse to serve justice. People die. An army is eventually called to take you guys down and, as a result, your rebellion fails.
As ridiculous as this story may sound, this event (although dramatized a bit) ACTUALLY happened in American history:
It’s called Shays’ Rebellion.
And that’s the EXACT reason why militias don’t work: they’re unstable standing armies that are ONE law away from a revolution.
Not good for peace.
The solution? Dissolve the militia and make a . . .
Permanent Standing Army.
As a result, we built the most powerful military in the world. Because of this, we now rule the world but it came at a costly price . . .
. . . we can NO longer protect ourselves from our own standing army IF they turn against the people.
As with Julius Caesar, it has happened before. So how can we protect ourselves when the militia no longer exists?
If you think the National Guard is a militia . . . think again.
In 2007, President Bush signed into action the National Defense Authorization Act, giving the president the ability to order the National Guard WITHOUT asking for permission from our own state governors.
In other words? The National Guard became ANOTHER standing army.
So if the militia isn’t the answer, then what is? In my opinion, the only answer that comes to mind is . . .
Individual Gun Rights
What was the REAL reason for the 2nd amendment? To enable we the people to defend ourselves from the standing army.
Sure, the original idea was to use a militia, but as I’ve mentioned . . . it isn’t the solution. So, what’s the only logical replacement our founding fathers would approve of? Again,
Individual Gun Rights.
Let me explain:
Militias are armed small armies run by us . . . the people. Take away militias but keep the people armed and we can easily regroup into a militia if it is ever needed.
However, that’s no longer the case. With every mass shooting, the people’s right to bear arms is being threatened. The other side’s viewpoint is their belief that if we just removed guns, gun violence would go away.
Not exactly.
You see, there are too many guns already in circulation. By passing strict gun control, you’ll immediately create a black market for guns, resulting in no change in gun violence, or worsening it.
Not good.
Instead, we should follow the footsteps of our Founders and protect our most sacred liberty to bear arms. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll be called to use it to protect our country from a tyrannical evil like Caesar.
That said, what do you think? Do you think protecting our individual gun rights is the best way to protect our freedom? Or is there another solution?
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—Richard Douglas is the founder of Scopes Field, a blog where he reviews different scopes and guns on the market. He’s a strong 2nd amendment advocate and believes in science-backed gun solutions to our nation’s biggest problems.