Why District of Columbia v. Heller should not have been necessary

By Tim Inwood

On this day, March 18th, 2008, the eyes of those in this nation who are interested in issues of liberty will be carefully watching the United States Supreme Court wrestle with the meaning of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, and how it applies to the District of Columbia. This is rather sad, in my view. If the American people were properly taught history and understood the Government created in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, known as the “Miracle in Philadelphia”, this would not be necessary at all. The city fathers of Washington D.C. never would have dared to pass this unconstitutional gun ordinance in 1976, nor would the citizens have accepted it. It is unfortunate that so many do not know from whence we came and what sacrifices were made to create our nation. At least one cable television service is doing something to rectify that.

It is not often that I will praise a cable service, but Home Box Office, aka HBO, has done the nation a great service in creating its seven part docudrama on John Adams. As a passionate student of history, and a descendant of many Revolutionary War soldiers, I truly enjoyed the first two parts that aired on Sunday, March 16th. For those who were not paying attention in history class, John Adams was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Massachusetts and later the second President of the United States.

The second episode of this epic series opens with sounds of distant battle, and you see the aftermath of the firefight between the Minutemen with the British troops who were marching on Lexington and Concord. Though they do not go into detail as to what happened in the battle, they do discuss the motivation for the “shot heard round the world”.

I was often frustrated sitting in history class that the instructor would carry on about the various taxes that led to such discontent that the colonists considered revolt and then a final break with “Mother England”. What would frequently not be mentioned in class but is mentioned in the “Adams” film is why the British were marching on those towns in the first place. It was to confiscate the muskets, powder and shot held by the citizens at the powder magazine. The colonists had stored arms and kept a powder magazine to store arms for defense against the Indians and, in the previous generation, to protect themselves from the French as well as the Indians. Now with the threat of an uprising the British decided it was time to take those arms and the other instruments of war from the colonists.

On April 18, 1775 Paul Revere and other riders saw the lantern in the Old North Church and rode from Boston to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord with the famous cry, “The British are coming.” General Gage had indeed given the order sending seven hundred “red coats” by land to take their arms. On April 19th, under the command of Lt. Colonel Francis Smith and his second Major John Pitcairn, those troops marched on Concord and Lexington. The local “minute men” having been roused by the riders, were assembled and prepared make a show of force to stop the British from taking the arms. At dawn, Major Pitcairn and his
British regulars arrived in Lexington, where he met a line of militia commanded by Captain John Parker. Pitcairn shouted to them, “Disperse, ye rebels, disperse!”

However Parker did not yield. Even though he knew from a scout named Thaddeus Bowman that a force of nearly 1000 was descending on him from the direction of Cambridge, he expected from past experience the British would wish to avoid violence. On this day it was different. Suddenly things began to escalate. In the distance 30 Royal Marines began to charge on Parker’s Militia with Bayonets fixed to their Brown Bess Muskets and the words “Damn them we will have them” were shouted by a Marine officer waving a saber.

The militia formation began to break and then another shout from the British line came; “Lay down your arms, you damned rebels!” The militia line was wavering, but many stood their ground. Then within moments it happened. A shot rang out and the war for our
independence had begun--a war that began because the final straw of many grievances had now been broken. The government had come to disarm the citizens.

Our ancestors at the time of the Revolution considered themselves Englishmen who had been denied representation in Parliament. That was one of the many injustices they had suffered. We have all heard their famous cry “No taxation without representation”. Well, as Englishmen they also believed English common law applied to them. Under the Assize of Arms decreed in 1181 by King Henry II, all freemen were expected to keep and bear arms for the defense of the realm and themselves.

As Englishmen and freemen they knew they had the right to bear arms and they knew their arms were the key to their liberty and their safety. They had grumbled about their taxes being too high for many years, but the British government’s decision to disarm them was indeed the dissolution of the social contract that tied them with the mother country. England gave them no choice.

When our nation was forged in the aftermath of the war, we went through the growing pains of the Articles of Confederation and finally the Constitutional Convention that created the nation we have today. Our Constitution has been amended many times since the founding, but it is still the basis for our form of governance and also the document with which government tyranny was to be held at bay.

It was decided that the civil rights of the people would be recognized and enumerated in the document that we call the Bill of Rights. Among those rights enumerated was the right to keep and bear arms. Make no mistake, that right is as relevant today as it was in the 1700s. That right pre-exists the Constitution and is your final check against criminals, terrorists and tyrants. So guard that jewel of liberty that preserves your freedom and your life in the worst possible circumstances with unwavering vigilance, my friends.

Today we look to see what the United States Supreme Court will do. Will it honor the social contract made when the Bill of Rights was added to our Constitution? Will they recognize that a state does not grant rights, but that they are pre-existing, and it is the duty of the state to protect those rights? We will likely have to wait until June with the end of the Court’s term to learn the decision, but as I said earlier, if American History and how our U.S. Government was created were better taught, there would be no debate as to the meaning of the Second Amendment, nor would this court case to restore the rights of our fellow citizens in Washington D.C. be needed.

So my friends, if you are not up on your history, take advantage of what has thus far been quite good. Check out the HBO special on John Adams, and while you are watching that, do yourself a favor. Read up on that period of time and get a better understanding of what it took to create this great nation. Also, if you have not already done so, make sure you are registered to
vote. This year we elect a new President. If you do not vote you do not honor those who gave you this Republic and liberty. You will also deny yourself the ability to vote for your continued liberty as well as your right to keep and bear arms, as the two Democrat Presidential contenders are sworn enemies to your right to your guns. So be a responsible citizen. Get informed and vote.

Tim Inwood is the current Legislative Liaison and Past President of the Clinton County Farmers and Sportsmen Association, an Endowment Member of the NRA, Life Member of OGCA, and a volunteer for Buckeye Firearms Association.