President George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Your Federal “Crime” bill now pending in the Congress contains a provision that would ban firearms clips and feeding devices with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. This is yet another attempt to ban “military-style” firearms.
Clearly you have forgotten the reason the Founding Fathers guaranteed We The People the right to keep and bear arms. They knew, as you apparently do not, that governments will oppress the people by use of the standing army, but that a standing army would be no match for an armed populace. That’s right, Mr. President, we have the right to keep and bear arms to protect us from you and your army. To defend yourself against an army, sir, wouldn’t you want to be as well armed as the army?
Nowhere in the Bill of Rights are the words “sporting purposes” found. I do, however, find “militia… the people” and “the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” To limit We The People to only those firearms which you consider appropriate for recreational shooting is to stand the Second Amendment on its head.
The supreme court recognized the right to own military-style weapons in U.S. v. Miller (1939) when it upheld a provision of the National Firearms Act regulating interstate transport of sawed-off shotguns precisely because Miller failed to prove that a sawed-off shotgun “at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia.” In other words, Mr. President, because it was not deemed a military-style weapon. The court also recognized “militia” to mean all males capable of acting in concert for the common defense.” Current efforts to ban military-style “assault” weapons are unconstitutional when tested with the reasoning of the court in Miller.
No matter how well-intentioned your actions might be, you are playing into the hands of some future American tyrant who will no doubt appreciate the fact that you helped to disarm us. Or are you, sir, The Tyrant come to oppress us?
One last thought, Mr. President: Would billions of Chinese be oppressed today if they had military-style weapons? Would millions have suffered the yoke of Communism for many years in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union if they had military-style weapons? Would you wish this same fate upon We The People?
Respectfully,
Warren Michelsen