NoisyRoom.net

By: T F Stern
T F Stern’s Rantings

In an article written by Bruce McQuain, Fifth U.S. Circuit Rules Guns Are Not “Property-Like,” conservative values which have been a part of America’s founding principles have been eroded a bit more. Certain guns are not considered property nor do they fall into 2nd Amendment protection; at least that’s the reason police didn’t have to return a weapon (to its rightful owner) seized during an arrest in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, after charges had been dropped.

“The war against private property proceeds apace with the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals deciding that while you have a right to keep and bear arms, that right doesn’t extent to you keeping or bearing a particular arm.”

Exactly what dictionary did the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals use? Maybe their rulings are based on scientific studies which prove the molecular structure of certain guns are unstable, changing from moment to moment; kind of like depending on the rule of law to be consistent from one day to the next.

Even if that were so, it wouldn’t “matter.” Ideas, which are not tangible, are considered property on an equal footing as any other item which an individual can claim ownership to. The courts are not permitted to redefine property rights to suit their desire to disarm society as a whole or disarm even one individual.

“Each of us has a natural right – from God – to defend his person, his liberty, and his property. These are the three basic requirements of life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our faculties but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but and extension of our faculties?” Bastiat (The Law, p.6)

The fabric of America began with the understanding that certain foundational concepts were eternal. John Adams mentioned in his writings, A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States:

“The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”

Thomas Jefferson asked:

“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?” (Works 8:404; P.P.N.S., p.141)

With only these references, a reasoned person might conclude our judicial system has abandoned the foundations of a civilized society in which individual liberties are held sacred in favor of a police state where the laws of God are supplanted by arbitrary, unpredictable and unreliable edicts. Our nation’s sure foundation, a foundation based on the rule of law is on slippery footing if the meaning of long established words like “property” no longer can be depended upon. If even one piece of property belonging to an individual can be taken away at the whim of government, then nothing is safe or sacred.

This article has been cross-posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government & The American Constitution.”