Gun Rights: Good Law and Good Policy: James F. Booth

By James Booth

The right to keep and bear arms has proved to be an invaluable civil right throughout history.  And Americans have valued gun rights very highly.  These rights have served the nation very well.  They are no less important today, as are all Constitutional rights.  The Founding Fathers knew well that suppression of gun rights is a tactic that is employed by all autocratic regimes.  They also knew the importance of these rights in the protection of liberties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Booth
• Release date: Oct 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986912912

James Booth

James F. Booth is an attorney.  He has enjoyed a lengthy career in the telecommunications industry, and recently turned to political commentary as well.

Book preview

Gun Rights:

Good Law and Good Policy

Gun Rights:

Good Law and Good Policy

The right to keep and to bear arms has proved to be an invaluable civil right throughout history

by

James F. Booth

Copyright © 2022 by James F. Booth.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to [e-mail].

1. Legal and illegal immigration and assimilation. 2. Communism and socialism in the United States. 3. Joe and Hunter Biden laptop computer. 4. China. 5. Ukraine. 6. Big government. 7. The Deep State. 8. Whistleblower. 9. Climate change hoax. 10. Russia collusion hoax. 11. Education. 12. School choice, charter schools and school vouchers. 13. Abortion. 14. Freedom of speech.

ISBN: 979‑8‑9869129‑2‑9

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Colonial Period

Jamestown

Colonial Militias

Mercantilism

John Locke (1632-1704)

Adam Smith (1723-1790)

Salutary Neglect (1721-1763)

Taxation Without Representation

The Sugar Act (1764)

The Stamp Act (1765)

The Townshend Acts (1767-1768)

The Boston Massacre (1770)

The Boston Tea Party (1773)

The Intolerable Acts (1774)

Lexington and Concord (1775)

Chapter 2. The United States Constitution

The Continental Congress

Independence (1783)

The Articles of Confederation

The Constitution

The Citizen-Soldier

The Federalist Papers

The Bill of Rights

Interpretation

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010)

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen

Chapter 3. The American Heritage

Westward Expansion

The Spanish Empire

Texas War of Independence

Mexican-American War

Cultural Heritage

Immigration to the Colonies

Immigration to the United States

The American Civil War

The Transcontinental Railroads

The Homestead Act

Women’s Suffrage

The American Indian Wars

Innovations in Firearms

Samuel Colt

Winchester

Chapter 4. Crime and Deterrence

Gun Ownership in the Colonies

Present Day Gun Ownership

Gun Laws and Public Safety

Germany and France

The Charlie Hebdo Attacks

Terrorist Arsenals

The Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest

The United Kingdom

Tony Martin

Australia

Statistical Analyses

The Rand Corporation

Gun Crime in the United States

Crime and Gun Ownership

Youthful Offenders and Victims

Reliability of Information

Mass Shootings

Recidivism

The Brady Act

Self-defense

The Castle Doctrine

Defensive Gun Uses

Police response Times

Striving for Consensus

Background Checks

Chapter 5. Freedom Lost

The Soviet Union

The Peoples’ Republic of China

Hundred Flowers Campaign

The Great Leap Forward

Great Chinese Famine

The Cultural Revolution

The Dangers of Dogma

A Republic

Socrates

The Erosion of Freedom

The Size of Government

The Debt Ceiling

Chapter 6. Conclusions

Constitutional Amendments

Corruption

Solutions

Notes

Introduction

There are countless opinions about gun rights, and countries have taken a variety of approaches to defining gun rights and responsibilities for their citizens. Some countries regulate gun ownership very strictly. Other countries have a relaxed approach to gun ownership and the carrying of firearms. Some countries even encourage or require their citizens to own firearms.

Most countries allow civilian ownership of firearms under some conditions and restrictions. In at least 175 countries civilians are permitted to own firearms.[1]

There are three countries in which citizens have a legal right to possess firearms under their nations’ constitutions: the United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. In the past other countries have also included gun ownership rights in their nations’ constitutions; however, all but these three have rescinded those rights.

In its Constitution of 1857 Mexico attempted to emulate the United States Constitution in stating that every man has the right to keep and to carry arms for his security and legitimate defense. However, in the early Twentieth Century Mexico became embroiled in a very violent civil war. Following that civil war, the Mexican Constitution was changed to qualify the right of citizens to carry firearms. At present, citizens of Mexico are allowed to carry firearms only under conditions that might be promulgated by the government from time to time.

Similarly, the Constitution of Guatemala grants to its citizens the right to obtain firearms subject to the approval of the government. Citizens must obtain a permit from the government to purchase a firearm, they must renew the permit every three years, and they are limited in how much ammunition they can buy.

The purpose of any constitution is to grant to citizens of a country certain rights that are superior to the authority of the government. Constitutional rights are intended to be superior to other laws of the country and superior to the authority of the government. They are intended to impose restraints on the government. Once a right is granted by the constitution, the government may not interfere with the citizens’ exercise of that right. To condition a constitutional right in the way that Mexico and Guatemala have, by requiring approval of the government before a citizen may exercise the right, makes the right illusory. The citizens of those countries do not have a meaningful constitutional right at all to carry firearms.

A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against any government on earth, general or particular, and what no government should refuse, or rest on inference.[2]

The United States is unique in that it is the only country whose constitution grants to each citizen a right to own firearms without the approval of the government. That right appears in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is not conditioned or qualified by requiring any governmental approval.

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.[3]

Even in the United States, some restrictions on gun ownership are allowed. The requirement for a background check and disqualification of those persons who have been convicted of violent criminal offenses or found to be mentally ill has been determined not to conflict with the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.[4]

Gun ownership in the United States in the civilian population is the highest in the world. Most countries allow their citizens to own firearms, but the rate of gun ownership in the United States far exceeds that in any other country. In the United States it is estimated that there are 120 firearms for every 100 persons.[5]

Because the United States experience is different from other countries in these ways, those who analyze gun rights often look to the American experience for evidence either in support of their arguments for strict gun regulation, or in favor of a more liberal right to own and carry firearms.

The ownership of firearms has always been an important part of the American culture. That culture has arisen out of a long series of many events in its history. The objective in revisiting some of those events in this writing is to help one understand and appreciate the contributions that the ownership of firearms has made to the American culture. Quotes from the Founding Fathers of the United States and from others explain to us their original intent in the language of the Constitution, and give us insights into why they believed that this right is important.

Chapter 1

The Colonial Period

New Englanders began the Revolution not to institute reforms and changes in the order of things, but to save the institutions and customs that already had become old and venerable with them; and were new only to a few stupid Englishmen a hundred and fifty years behind the times.

—Edward Pearson Pressey,

History of Montague; A Typical Puritan Town

Jamestown

English colonization of North America began in Virginia with the establishment of the Jamestown colony in 1607. Jamestown was founded by the Virginia Company of London because the area was suitable for growing tobacco. Initially there were only about 300 settlers.

The settlers brought with them firearms for protection and for hunting. These consisted of a few hundred muskets.

Relations with the local native tribes were often turbulent. Between 1611 and 1645 there were often bloody clashes between the settlers and the native population. During periods of quiet, the settlers traded with the native tribes. They traded beads and metal tools and sometimes firearms in exchange for food.[6]

Conditions in the Jamestown colony were exceedingly harsh. In the early years the settlers faced starvation on several occasions. In 1609 and 1610 more than 80 percent of the colonists died from starvation and disease. This was referred to as the Starving Time.

In the autumn of 1609, after Smith left, Chief Powhatan began a campaign to starve the English out of Virginia. The tribes under his rule stopped bartering for food and carried out attacks on English parties that came in search of trade. Hunting became highly dangerous, as the Powhatan Indians also killed Englishmen they found outside the fort. Long reliant on the Indians, the colony found itself with far too little food for the winter.[7]

Of the 500 Jamestown colonists at the beginning of that winter, only 60 survived.[8] The colonists were in the process of abandoning Jamestown when a ship arrived with supplies and additional settlers in June of 1610. The colonists then returned to Jamestown.[9]

By 1622 the population of Jamestown had grown to about 1,400 people. That year the Powhatan Indians again attempted to drive out the colonists, this time by force. They attacked Jamestown and executed violent raids at several locations around Jamestown. They killed 347 colonists and destroyed several plantations. However, they were unable to destroy Jamestown and failed to drive out the colonists.[10]

By 1644 the population of Jamestown settlers had grown to about 5,000. The natives tried again to force out the settlers with surprise raids. This time they killed about 500 colonists. This has been referred to as the Third Powhatan War. Again they were unsuccessful in forcing the colonists to abandon Jamestown.[11]

Fighting between the Jamestown settlers and the local native tribes continued until 1646 when several treaties were signed between the English settlers and the native tribes.

Colonial Militias

From the earliest days the thirteen English colonies in the new world organized local militias. During the 17th and 18th centuries militias were organized primarily to protect their communities from threats posed by Indian tribes. All able-bodied males between the late teens and age 45 were required to serve. Sometimes a militia was organized by a colony; sometimes it was organized by a town.[12]

In addition to facing threats from many Indian tribes, militias fought with the British army against the French in what was referred to in the colonies as the French and Indian War. To Europeans it was part of a large global war known as the Seven Years War. That war lasted from 1754 to 1763.

In the early 18th century, as threats to the colonies diminished, the use of militias also declined. However, beginning with the Seven Years War and as conflicts with the British government began to escalate later in that century, militias again began to train seriously.

Mercantilism

Britain and several other European empires practiced an