QUESTIONS THE NEW YORK GUN OWNER SHOULD ASK BEFORE TRANSFERRING GUNS BY TESTAMENTARY WILL TO ONE’S HEIRS

PART 4: Given The Obvious Difficulties For A New York Resident And Gun Owner Who Wishes To Transfer Firearms To One's Heirs - How Should A Firearms' Owner Proceed If He Or She With BEQUEST Of Firearms To Heirs?

In the previous post of this multi-series article we looked at several New York Statutes impacting the transfer of firearms to one’s heirs. In this post we deal with the technical problems associated with bequests of firearms.To begin, the owner of a firearm or collection of firearms must, of course, be mindful of the laws pertaining to bequests of firearms. And, let it be understood, we are here talking about lawful ownership of firearms and the lawful transfer of firearms, not criminal possession and criminal transfers of firearms.In theory, at least, proponents of NY Safe would likely argue that your firearms are, indeed, your private property. Of course, if that were true, then you would have absolute control over them as well as exclusive ownership of them. After all, that is what the concept of private property means: exclusive ownership and absolute control. And, too, if that were the case, we would not need to spend considerable time, as we have done, discussing bequests of firearms. However, in New York, while you do have exclusive ownership of your firearms – that is to say, your firearms are not the property of the State, and they are not the property of the public at large – you never have absolute control over them. Thus, the statement, "a New York resident has absolute control over his or her firearms," is not truly an accurate one.  Indeed, the idea is highly implausible even to contemplate in a jurisdiction such as New York. Just take a look at the numerous New York laws that negatively impact your control over your own firearms and the specific manner in which your control over those firearms is constrained and restricted! In that regard, if you haven’t already done so, we ask that you take a look at the earlier installments of this multi-series Article: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Doing so will provide you with the conceptual framework you need upon which you can truly understand and appreciate the insidious way in which the New York Safe Act and other New York antigun laws associated with it operate to rob a New York gun owner of the private property interest one has in one's own firearms. You will then be able to place this particular post, Part 4, in the proper context and make maximum use of it as you begin to draft for the first time your testamentary will or otherwise prepare to modify a presently existing testamentary will, to provide for the lawful transfer of your firearms to your heirs.So, if you live in New York and you own and possess firearms, you don’t have absolute control over those firearms, in view of the numerous laws and regulations mandating and detailing how they are to be used and kept. And, the executor of your estate has even less control over them once you are gone, as your executor attempts to transfer the firearms to your heirs. So, in the absent of absolute control over your firearms, you do not have the enjoyment of your firearms while you are alive. And your heirs may not be able to obtain lawful possession of them upon your death.You cannot transfer your firearms to whomever you want whenever you want, during your lifetime. And, your executor may not be able to transfer them at all to your heirs upon your death, regardless of your wishes as expressed in your testamentary will.You are always in danger of losing possession of your firearms at the whim of the State while you are alive. And the State may deny you the right to transfer the firearms to your heirs, through your testamentary will, once you are gone. And, be advised, we are here concerned about transfers of guns after you die – in other words, bequests of firearms to one’s heirs. We are not dealing with the problems attendant to gun transfers while you are alive, which pose their own set of problematic issues.Moreover, as we have heretofore pointed out, although you can, in your will, bequeath your firearms to whomever you wish, that means nothing if nothing can come of it. In other words, a bequest that cannot be effectuated is no real bequest at all. The effectuation of a bequest is what matters: whether the person to whom you make a bequest of firearms is eligible, under the law, to possess them. And, that is what really counts to the testator and to the eventual heir who hopes to inherit the testator’s firearms.So, when making one or more bequests of firearms, you must consider the possibility, a real possibility, that your legatees – that is to say the prospective heirs of your gun collection, as stipulated in your will – may not be able to hold and keep them.To assist you in preparing your will, if you are an owner of firearms and wish to bequeath your firearms to one or more heirs, we have prepared, for you, first, a series of questions that you, as a testator – the maker of the will – ought to ask yourself. These are questions that you, as testator, should ask whether you own one firearm, or a few firearms, or a substantial number of them -- one or more of which may be part of an extremely valuable and rare collection -- when preparing your will. And, we have provided you, second, a checklist that you may find helpful and that you may wish to utilize, as well, when considering the transference of your firearms to one or more heirs.

A WORD OF CAUTION BEFORE WE PROCEED:

We are not providing you here with advice on how to draft a testamentary will. We could not do that even if we wished to do so. That is a legal matter, and we strongly suggest you retain the services of a licensed attorney to assist you in that endeavor. Furthermore, in that regard, be advised there is no such thing as a “simple will.” As everyone is a unique individual – a truth that antigun proponents refuse to accept or to concede – and as every unique individual has his or her own unique set of needs and wishes and concerns and circumstances, a will must be drafted to meet that individual’s unique needs and wishes and concerns and circumstances. Only a licensed attorney can best provide those services for you. There are no shortcuts; there is no person other than a licensed attorney who can properly assist you; and, where firearms are included in one’s estate, specific, considerable, and formidable obstacles exist to will formation that would not otherwise exist. Therefore, the need for a licensed attorney becomes critical. The need for a licensed attorney to assist the testator in drafting his or her will becomes critical because the executor or administrator of the decedent's estate, who first comes into possession of the decedent's firearms, is at considerable risk of incurring misdemeanor or even felony charges for failure to properly and timely deal with those firearms in strict accordance with law.The most important consideration here is, then, that neither the executor of your estate, on the one hand, nor your heirs, on the other, runs afoul of the law once you are gone and your firearms remain to be disposed of. For, the last thing that you would wish to leave the executor or administrator of your estate, and your heirs, is a nest of trouble. And, the existence of firearms in one’s hands in a jurisdiction like New York is, unfortunately, an invitation to trouble – as much, if not more so, for the law-abiding New York resident and U.S. citizen, as for the criminal, the latter of whom couldn’t care less about New York gun laws.What we are providing for you here is a solid foundation for one sort of bequest that you will be making -- a bequest of firearms to your heirs.  If you can answer the questions we provide for you, that will go a long way in assisting your attorney when he prepares your will for you.

QUESTIONS THE NEW YORK GUN OWNER SHOULD ASK BEFORE BEQUEATHING FIREARMS TO ONE’S HEIRS

Below are several of the questions you should ask yourself if you are a New York resident and happen to own one or more firearms and wish to bequeath that firearm or those firearms to others upon your death. Indeed these are the questions we would ask of ourselves. In fact, if anyone who is reading this post is a firearms’ owner, who resides outside New York and who resides in a jurisdiction that might be considered friendly to, or, at least, friendlier to possession of firearms by residents and U.S. citizens, consistent with the import and purport of the Second Amendment, several of the questions set forth below are certainly applicable to your jurisdiction as well, to the extent that you wish to plan now for, or in the foreseeable future for, the disposition of your firearms – your private property – to others upon your death.

ONE FURTHER POINT BEFORE WE PROCEED

The information we are providing for you below is a distillation of and expansion on certain content found in the following law review article: Note: A Testamentary Gift of Felony: Avoiding Criminal Penalties From Estate Firearms," Nathan G. Rawling, 23 Quinn. Prob. Law Journal 286 (2010). The author of the law journal article may disagree with our interpretation of and application of various material that appears in his Note. Be that as it may, we mention the law journal article in order to give due credit to the source for much of the information that follows even if the manner in which we use that information here differs from the manner in which the author himself uses it in his Note, or might wish to use it for other purposes at a later point in time.

QUESTIONS A GUN OWNER SHOULD ASK WHEN CONSIDERING A DISPOSITION OF ONE’S FIREARMS TO ONE’S HEIRS

First, what procedures must the executor of my estate and my heirs be aware of and adhere to when coming into possession of my firearms so as to avoid criminal liability? We have, in this multi-part series, provided you with most, if not all, of the major New York Statutes you must be aware of. There might be others -- at least laws tangentially related to and directed to bequests of firearms.  And, they must all be construed together. The statutes that we have given you here provide your executor – or your heir, if the heir himself or herself is the first person to come into contact with the firearms upon your death – with his or her duty under the law. For example, and most importantly, upon your death, whoever comes into contact with firearms must surrender them to the appropriate authority within 15 days of receipt of them. Failure to do so may result in a felony charge.Second, does the bequest of a particular asset involve an item defined as a firearm? This might not be as obvious at first glance as you may think. For example, suppose you have a firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperable. Does that firearm constitute a firearm qua firearm under the law? And, suppose you have an item that has the appearance of a true, functioning firearm, but it is a “dummy.” Do you still treat it as a firearm under the law? Suppose the firearm is an antique – or a quasi-functioning firearm such as an old musket or wheel lock? Is that object treated as a firearm under the law? Is a “starter pistol” classified as a firearm under the law? You must be prepared to answer these questions.Third, of those objects that I have reason to know are firearms, how are they categorized? Which firearms are pistols? Which firearms are rifles? Which firearms are shotguns? Be prepared to describe the firearms with particularity. Fourth, how many, if any, of my firearms are defined as an assault weapon under New York Law?For New York residents and residents of other States that have laws specifically defining certain weapons as assault weapons and strictly controlling ownership and possession, of them, this question is a particularly critical one, to be given particular consideration to.Fifth, how many, if any, of my firearms are classified as a ‘machine gun’ under New York law; and how many of them are classified as ‘selective-fire weapons’? Does New York law distinguish between selective-fire weapons and full-auto only weapons in its classification scheme? Do selective-fire weapons and full-auto only weapons fall under the nomenclature of assault weapons under New York law? Actually, under New York law selective-fire weapons and full-automatic weapons are not defined as assault weapons under. However, under Connecticut law, selective-fire weapons and full-automatic weapons are also defined as assault weapons.Sixth, are each of my heirs eligible to possess firearms? Suppose that each of my heirs is eligible to possess firearms at the time I draft my testamentary will. But, how do I know that my heirs will be eligible to possess firearms in the future? Suppose I have four heirs and I have a substantial number of firearms that I wish to bequeath to each of them. Now, suppose, further, that, at the time I am preparing my will, each of my heirs has a valid pistol permit; that two of my heirs live in New York City; that one of my heirs lives in upper State New York; and that one of my heirs lives in Connecticut. Suppose further that, of the two heirs who live in New York City, one of them has a valid rifle and shotgun permit, but the second one doesn’t. How do these specific facts affect the eligibility of each of my heirs to receive the specific firearms I wish to bequeath to each of them?Seventh, what are the applicable State laws? Apropos of the above example,  you must be mindful of both New York law and Connecticut law. Both jurisdictions have exceedingly restrictive gun laws, but one, Connecticut, allows an eligible person to receive a firearm defined as an assault weapon. New York does not. As you may recall, we pointed out that, in New York, assault weapons can only be lawfully possessed by the original owner. Assault weapons cannot be transferred to anyone else, including a blood relative and prospective heir to firearms. In Connecticut, they can.Eighth, what are the applicable Federal Laws? We haven’t discussed this, but you must be mindful of the possible impact of Federal laws on gun transfers. There are the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the National Firearms Act of 1934 both of which regulate transfers of guns and the National Firearms Act of 1934 also imposes a tax on gun transfers.Ninth, what are the penalties for failure to follow – to the letter – the applicable State and Federal Laws? You must know the penalties and, to avoid, the penalties, you must know the law. The old adage, “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” is one that gun owners should burn in their memory.Tenth, what do I need to know about gun transfers to heirs who live in another jurisdiction? If an heir to a bequest of firearms lives in another State, you must know and adhere to the requirements of transfers of guns to that resident who lives in a State other in New York. The requirements pertaining to gun transfers may be just as stringent in another jurisdiction as they are in New York. Even so, the laws pertaining to transfers will undoubtedly differ in several respects from one jurisdiction to another, and the very definition of ‘assault weapon,’ in particular, will differ from one State to the next. You must comply with the laws of each jurisdiction in which your firearms happen to be located and your heirs happen to reside.Eleventh, what happens if one of my heirs who is eligible to receive firearms at the time I draft my will, becomes ineligible to receive firearms at the time of my death? Your will should provide the executor with appropriate alternative instructions in the event that certain classes of firearms cannot be transferred to a particular heir or if it comes to light that a particular heir is no longer eligible to receive firearms at all or if the heir simply doesn’t want to take possession of one or more firearms.Twelfth, what do I do if the law pertaining to firearms changes? This is analogous to the question immediately above. Often – all too often of late – firearms laws become ever stricter. Ever more types of firearms become banned. And eligibility requirements become stricter. Once again, the maker of a will, the testator, should provide the executor of the estate, with specific instructions if it becomes evident that the bequest of firearms becomes too difficult to comply with or altogether impossible to administer. Ultimately, the testator may be compelled to sell the entirety of the collection of firearms well prior to his or her death in order to maximize the best price for the firearms. This would be unfortunate but would prevent headaches for the executor and heirs and would prevent the imposition of felony charges for failure to adhere to “the letter of the law” when coming into possession of the testator’s firearms.

A CHECKLIST FOR TESTATORS WHO OWN FIREARMS AND ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DRAWING UP THEIR TESTAMENTARY WILLS

• Accurately describe all firearms in your collection
• Be sure to provide the executor or administrator of your estate with clear, comprehensive, and explicit instructions for disposing of your firearms, so that all Federal and State gun laws, as well as applicable local ordinances, are adhered to.
• Determine whether each of your heirs to whom you wish to bequeath one or more firearms is eligible to own firearms generally, and, further, is eligible to possess the particular firearms you wish to bequeath to each heir.
• Confirm that each of your heirs has the necessary pistol licenses and, where applicable, such as and namely, New York City, a valid long arm permit.
• Do your heirs all live in New York? if not, what other State do one or more of your heirs live in, to whom you wish to bequeath one or more of your firearms?
• Are you familiar with the laws of each jurisdiction in which you own and possess firearms and in which each of your heirs live to whom you wish to bequeath your firearms?
• Are you familiar with the possible impact of Federal law on transfers of firearms to heirs. Little is said about the operation of Federal law. And we have not gotten into that here. But Federal Law as well as State law may have a decisive impact on the transfer of some or all of your firearms.
• Are any of your firearms classified as ‘assault weapons’ under the law of the jurisdiction where your heir or heirs reside, if other than New York?
• Do you own weapons that are classified as ‘machine guns?’ If so, you must definitely be familiar with Federal law as well as State law, concerning the transfer of those weapons to your heirs. There are specific eligibility requirements for ownership of and possession of fully automatic and selective fire weapons.
• If you own guns defined as machine guns, do your heirs have the appropriate current and valid federal licenses that would allow them to take possession of machine guns?
• Have you confirmed whether your heirs even wish to own and possess the particular firearm or firearms you wish to bequeath to them? You may presume, wrongly, that your heirs wish to take possession of your firearms. This is one type of property – unlike jewelry or expensive art or gold bullion or blue chip stocks or cash – where your presumption may be completely erroneous.
• Suppose, at the time of your death, one or more of your heirs, to whom you wish to bequeath your firearms, is no longer eligible to possess firearms. Or, suppose New York gun laws change and eligible recipients of your firearms, at the time you made out your will, are no longer eligible to receive certain firearms. Have you made arrangements for an alternative disposition of your firearms in the event that one or more of your heirs, to whom you wish to bequeath your firearms, is no longer eligible to possess firearms at the time of your death because of changed circumstances in that person’s life or in the event of further yet more draconian changes in New York gun laws that make it impossible for an executor or administrator to lawfully transfer firearms to your heirs?
• What are the penalties that your executor, or administrator or heirs might face for failure to adhere to all applicable laws pertaining to the lawful transfer of and possession of firearms? Know those laws! And, be certain that the executor or administrator of your will and that your heirs, too, are knowledgeable about the laws.

UPCOMING INSTALLMENT

In the fifth and final installment of this multi-series Article, we will discuss a few other matters we have not previously touched upon – matters that are directly related to bequests of firearms. For example, one might assume that the New York gun owner, like a gun owner residing anywhere else in the United States, will have a store of ammunition for one’s firearms. That is only reasonable. And the gun owner will likely wish to bequeath ammunition to one’s heirs, along with one’s firearm or collection of firearms. That, too, is only reasonable. And, York law has much to say about commercial transactions involving ammunition. Yet, New York law has virtually nothing to say about transfers of ammunition that do not involve commercial transactions. So, can a testator bequeath his or her ammunition to the testator’s heirs? We will get into that in Part 5 of this multi-series Article.And, then there is the issue of “large capacity ammunition feeding devices (magazines).” The New York Safe Act treats so-called large capacity magazines, separate and apart from the firearm itself. So, the firearm and the magazine are two distinct devices under New York law. Thus, the New York resident may have a firearm that is in fact, legal, but may have a magazine for that weapon, that, itself, isn’t legal, even though the magazine came with the gun – was, in fact, clearly, a critical component of the gun. Indeed, imagine, a gun dealer selling you a semiautomatic, but refraining from selling you the magazine that the manufacturer designed for it, to be used and sold together with it. Can a large capacity feeding device be transferred to heirs, along with the weapon that was manufactured with it, insofar as the magazine, reasonably, ought to be construed as integral to the weapon and would certainly have been sold with it? For, otherwise, why would an individual choose to purchase a semiautomatic weapon without the magazine? Would a person wish to purchase an automobile without the engine? The New York Safe Act creates, for the law-abiding New York gun owner, an “Alice and Wonderland World;” a place where things are not always as they seem; a place where you must leave your reason and sanity at the door before entering. If a testator can transfer a semiautomatic firearm to his or her heirs, can that testator also transfer the “large capacity ammunition feeding device” that came with it? We will discuss the ramifications of that question in the next installment of this multi-series Article as well.We will also talk about police officers -- but not in their professional capacity as police officers. We will be addressing the issue of bequests of firearms to police officers. Does New York law treat bequests of firearms to police officers any differently from bequests of firearms made to a New York resident who is not an active duty police officer or is not a police officer retired from the force?Of course, a police officer may lawfully possess and use so-called “assault weapons” when on active-duty, and, while on active-duty, the officer will most likely have access to “large capacity ammunition feeding devices” as well. Perhaps that officer may, and probably can, in accordance with Departmental policy, possess and use that same weapon when off-duty, too. That isn't our concern here. What is of concern here and relevant to the discussion, is whether that officer may receive and possess a non-departmental assault weapon as a bequest, for example, from a dying uncle, who happened to have purchased it lawfully prior to enactment of the NY Safe Act and who had timely registered it subsequent to enactment of the Act, in strict accordance with the Act. The answer to that question may surprise you. The answer may, in fact, surprise many New York police officers as well. We will deal with that matter as well in the upcoming fifth and final installment of this multi-series Article.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2015 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) and Vincent L. Pacifico (Orca) All Rights Reserved.

EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY PROMOTES PETITION DRIVE TO UNDERMINE THE SECOND AMENDMENT

There is an old adage that has gained some currency of late. It is this: “keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.” Some attribute the adage to Sun-Tsu, the brilliant Chinese military genius and strategist, who authored, “The Art of War.” Others attribute the adage to Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian Politician and Philosopher, who authored, “The Prince.” Whoever first came up with that saying is not a matter of particular importance. What is important is the import of the saying. It is certainly one that any American who cherishes the Bill of Rights ought to keep uppermost in mind. Why do we bring this up? We do so for this reason: to keep you apprised of new developments in the antigun community as we become aware of them, as antigun groups work toward their endgame: Destruction of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Forewarned is, indeed, forearmed. The liberal weblog, “AlterNet,” has very recently sponsored a petition drive on behalf of the antigun Group, Everytown for Gun Safety. We cite it here for your perusal, together with links to the webpages that are promoting this drivel._____________________________________________

 Join The Movement To End Gun Violence In America. Join Everytown For Gun Safety. Everytown is a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities. Gun violence touches every town in America. For a generation, change has been thwarted by the Washington gun lobby and by a broken Congress that has failed to take common-sense steps that will save lives. But something is changing. More than 2.5 million mayors, moms, survivors, law enforcement, teachers, gun owners, and everyday Americans have stepped up to demand more of our country and our elected officials -- and it's working. Because of this movement, the NRA is losing its grip on state houses across America. In 2015, we will continue to fight for laws that will keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people by requiring a simple background check for every gun sale. And we'll hold our lawmakers accountable when they put the gun lobby's interests before the safety of our communities. Everytown starts with you, and it starts in your town. Sign up here to help bring an end to gun violence in your community and across the country.As a movement of Americans fighting for common-sense gun policies, we depend on contributions from supporters like you to fund important work to reduce gun violence.Paid for by Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund. Contributions to Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund are not tax-deductible.____________________________________________It is not our purpose here to explicate this propaganda for you. It is all nonsense, anyway. However, there are a couple of reasons we are bringing this matter to your attention.First, take a close look at this propaganda advert and petition. Something is missing from it, something important. Do you know what is missing? It is this: "Everytown for Gun Safety Action" is the brainchild of former New York City Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg. Apparently, Bloomberg doesn't want the public to know that a multi-billionaire is the driving force behind the effort to destroy the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Arbalest Quarrel discussed Michael Bloomberg's, "Everytown" organization in depth, when he  first created it, almost one year ago. The Article in the Arbalest Quarrel is titled, "'Everytown for Gun Safety": Bloomberg's Blueprint for Destruction of the Second Amendment?'" "Everytown" is Bloomberg's raison d'etre, since leaving public office.Second, anyone who is ignorant enough to sign Bloomberg's petition is signing away and, in fact, wishing away his or her Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms: a sacred right that one is unlikely to find in the Constitution of any other nation in the world. If a person is willing to sign away even one Constitutional Right, that person obviously can be duped into signing away others. Once gone, one's rights and liberties are gone forever. Autocratic rulers and autocratic ruling bodies seek to reduce individual rights and liberties to a nullity. Destruction of the Second Amendment is a major step in that direction. Michael Bloomberg doesn't want to talk about that, though. He would rather talk about "violence" and, in so doing, he tortuously attempts to tie violence to guns -- inanimate objects. Bloomberg might just as sensibly tie violence to knives, and hammers, and broomstick handles -- the point being that the real issue here isn't guns at all -- it is people -- "dangerous people" as the "Everytown" petition says. And, who, are the dangerous people?  Why, everyone who owns and possesses a gun: people like you and me because, to the antigun crowd, a dangerous person is a person who would wish to own and possess a gun at all. Imagine that! So, don't for a minute believe that Michael Bloomberg's "Everytown" antigun group is concerned only with guns in the hands of criminals, and psychopaths, and lunatics. If that were so, the myriad gun laws in force today would be sufficient, for those laws would be enforced. They aren't. The Everytown petition drive is nothing more than a naked ploy, playing to irrational emotion. It is a devious attempt to obtain support from as wide a swathe of the American population as it can. With that support Bloomberg's "Everytown" organization will certainly attempt, anew, to make a case before the U.S. Congress and before the State Legislatures that ownership of and possession of firearms must be ever more stringently controlled and restricted -- controlled and restricted, ultimately, out of existence.The only real violence here is the violence to our Bill of Rights. Hopefully, the American public will see through the "Everytown" petition charade.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2015 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

Do New York Residents and Citizens Really Have a Private Property Right Interest in Their Guns?

Part 2: Do New York Residents and Citizens Really Have a Private Property Right Interest in Their Guns?

CAPSULE SUMMARY

In the previous installment of this multi-part series, we discussed the notion of a private property interest as existent in the U.S. Constitution, and we provided you with various legal definitions of ‘property.’ We did this so you would be able to better understand and appreciate how the New York Safe Act and related New York law operate to deprive New York residents and gun owners of their right to effectively transfer their firearms to other individuals, namely and particularly, their heirs, upon the death of the original owners of the firearms.If you wish to give your firearms to your heirs when you die, you need to become familiar with substantially more legal terminology that you will come across in New York law.In this installment, Part 2, we will accomplish two things. First, we will provide you with several more definitions of common legal terminology that appear in New York law that negatively impact a gun owner’s private property interest in his or her own firearms. Second, we will drill down into the notion ‘private property.’ You will come to appreciate that the Founders of our Republic did, in fact, respect the notion of a private property right and private property interest as reflected in the Bill of Rights, and you will also come to understand that New York law insidiously undermines one’s private property right and interest as applied to one’s own guns.

LEGAL TERMINOLOGY YOU NEED TO KNOW

Several legal terminology that you need to have an understanding of and appreciation for include: ‘testator,’ ‘will,’ ‘heir,’ ‘legatee,’ ‘bequest,’ ‘decedent,’ ‘estate,’ ‘executor,’ and ‘fiduciary.’The word, ‘testator,’ refers to “a person who makes a will; esp. a person who dies leaving a will.” A similar word, ‘testation’ refers to the “disposal of property by will.”The term, ‘will,’ – more usually referring to a written instrument – means, ‘the legal expression of an individual’s wishes about the disposition of his or her property after death; esp., a document by which a person directs his or her estate to be distributed upon death.”The term, ‘executor,’ means ‘a person named by a testator to carry out the provisions of the testator’s will.’The term, ‘fiduciary,’ means ‘a person who is required to act for the benefit of another person on all matters within the scope of their relationship; one who owes to another the duties of good faith, trust, confidence, and candor.’ So, the executor of a testator’s will owes the testator the duties of good faith, trust, confidence and candor in carrying out the provisions of the testator’s will.Suppose a person doesn’t leave a will. How is the decedent’s property to be disposed of?Every State has laws that determine how a person’s property is to be distributed in the event a person doesn’t leave a will. This process of distribution, in the absence of a will, is called intestate succession. An heir, also referred to as ‘legal heir,’ is ‘a person who, under the laws of intestacy, is entitled to receive an intestate decedent’s property.’The term, ‘decedent,’ means, simply, ‘a dead person, especially, one who has died recently.’ And the term, ‘legatee,’ is defined as ‘one who is named in a will to take personal property; one who has received a legacy or bequest.’ Think of the legatee as an heir who is specifically named in a will. The legatee is a person who takes property under the will of the testator.The term, ‘bequest,’ is ‘the act of giving property (usually personal property) by will.’ The verb form of that word, ‘bequeath,’ means, then, ‘to give property (usually personal property) by will.’In this multi-series article we will use the term ‘heir’ to refer generally to a close family relation to whom a decedent’s firearms, as personal property, go, whether by intestate succession or by the written will of the decedent testator.Finally, the term ‘estate’ means, in law, “the amount, degree, nature, and quality of a person’s interest in land or other property.”Let’s consider an example to see how these various legal expressions work.Let’s say, I am a New York resident and I have one adult son. I own and possess several firearms, many of which are extremely rare heirlooms – commemorative editions of rifles, pistols and shotguns, plated in gold and silver. Let us say that much of my wealth is tied to these firearms that, collectively, are worth several thousand dollars, perhaps tens of thousands of dollars, and that, together, they constitute a considerable dollar sum of my estate. I wish to give the entire collection to my son once I am gone. I hire an attorney to draft a will for me. I am the testator of that will. In that will, I bequeath the entire collection of firearms to my son, the legatee and legal heir of my firearms’ collection. I also choose to appoint the lawyer as my executor. As executor of my will, the lawyer has a fiduciary obligation to me is to see that my wishes are fulfilled in accordance with the terms of my will, after I am gone. The executor will have an extraordinarily difficult time executing my will because New York gun laws are extremely restrictive and complex, not at all straightforward.

THE NOTION OF ‘PRIVATE PROPERTY’ IN AMERICA

Before we tackle the problems associated with New York law that generally defeat one’s property interest in his or her firearm or collection of firearms, we need to spend a little more time on the notion of ‘private property.’

Does An American Citizen Really Have A Right In And To Private Property?

We have previously pointed to the Fifth Amendment “Takings clause” as the place where one finds a right of ownership in property. The Fifth Amendment sets forth in full: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”Now, to be clear, the Fifth Amendment doesn’t expressly assert private ownership of property in terms of a specific, expressly asserted “right” in the sense, for example, that the Second Amendment clearly speaks of “the right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms. . . .” Nonetheless, the implication is clear.The last clause of the Fifth Amendment says “. . . nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The expression ‘private property’ does expressly appear in the Fifth Amendment even if the right underlying it does not. Still, the right exists, even if only implied. For, if the right to own property in a personal capacity did not exist, then the “Takings Clause” of the Fifth Amendment would be meaningless. The Federal Government or a State Government would have no duty to provide a person just compensation for one’s property if a “right” in and to that property didn’t first exist. So, the right in and to private property must exist in order to make sense of a Government’s duty to provide just compensation for the taking of it.Basically, the “Takings Clause” of the Fifth Amendment says that no governmental body shall take a person’s private property for public benefit, without compensating the owner justly for it. The expression ‘just compensation’ is understood in law to mean ‘fair market value.’ Now proponents of the NY Safe Act will likely point out that the “Takings Clause” of the Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply here even if New York law does interfere with a gun owner’s desire to transfer his firearms to others. Proponents of NY Safe may argue that such interference with one’s private property – one’s firearms – doesn’t amount to a “Taking” under the Fifth Amendment at all because New York isn’t actually appropriating the firearms. Proponents of NY Safe might point out that the executor of the decedent original owner of the firearms isn’t prevented from selling the guns to a resident outside of New York or selling them to a licensed gun dealer in New York.  Still, one might reasonably respond that, to the extent a firearms’ owner isn’t able to do what he wishes with them – bequeath them to his or her heirs – the result is a constructive taking of them.Moreover, if a firearms’ owner is prevented from transferring his firearms to his or her heirs and the executor of the gun owner’s estate is compelled to sell the firearms in order to realize some monetary gain for them on behalf of the heirs, that gain is likely to be far less than the fair market value for the firearms.  A prospective buyer of the firearms would be well aware that the executor of the firearms’ owner’s estate is compelled to sell the firearms or, otherwise, the prospective buyer could certainly learn, with little effort, that the firearms must be disposed of because the heirs are ineligible under New York law to receive them.But proponents of the NY Safe Act might then argue that the State of New York isn’t taking one’s firearms because, under the Fifth Amendment, the taking of private property must be for a public benefit, and there is no public benefit associated with the firearms. There are two responses to that argument.First, since proponents of NY Safe presume that firearms are, ipso facto, dangerous instrumentalities, whose mere presence constitutes a danger to the public, the interference with one’s private property interest in them does, to the minds of proponents of NY Safe, confer a benefit on the public – namely, the removal of them from private hands. The firearms likely must either be transferred to someone outside the State or destroyed by the police, in the State.The benefit, at least to proponents of the Safe Act, however faulty their reasoning, is that public safety in general is increased to the extent that the number of firearms in private hands is decreased. The benefit to the public might be considered, then, a ‘constructive benefit’ if not an actual benefit. So, interference with one’s private property interest in firearms does amount to a taking for the public benefit. If so, then the Government is itself obligated, under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, to provide the owner’s heirs, the fair market value for the firearms – if New York law does not otherwise permit the owner’s heirs to receive the firearms upon the original owner’s death, pursuant to the original owner’s intent as expressed in his will and if the executor of the estate is unable, after diligent effort, to find a buyer outside the State or a licensed gun dealer inside the State who is willing to pay the executor the fair market value for them.Second, even if the interference with one’s ownership interest in firearms does not really amount to a taking under the Fifth Amendment precisely because no actual public benefit exists, still, in some instances, where private property interests are at stake, the Government’s interference with one’s private property interests may amount to a taking, notwithstanding the absence of a public benefit. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that interference with a person’s attempt to pass property to others upon death may constitute a “per se” taking. See, Hodel v. Irving, 481 U.S. 704, 716-18 (1987). If so, then, New York’s interference with a person’s desire to pass one’s firearms to one’s heirs may constitute a per se taking under the Hodel holding.The concept of ‘private property’ also appears, although tacitly,’ in the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Third Amendment says, “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”The Third Amendment presumption is that a person owns his or her house. One’s house is, then, one’s private property. The Third Amendment makes clear that a soldier of the Federal Government shall not, in peace time, be allowed to enter or to stay in a person’s house unless the owner of the house – that is to say, the owner of that property – so allows it. During times of war, the Government can override the consent of the owner but, any overriding proviso must clearly be set forth in law.How many American citizens do you suppose are familiar with the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? Probably, not many to be sure. Just imagine a circumstance, in the not too distant future, when, as economic calamity strikes this Country, and as our sacred rights and liberties become further eroded, under the guise of “National Security, the police and military demand access to an American’s home, your home. If this idea seems far-fetched, just keep in mind that it is only through the U.S. Constitution that Government in this Country is kept in check. As the mainframe of our Constitution -- the Articles and Sections and Amendments that comprise it -- becomes ignored or defeated – improbable events become likely events, and unlikely events become actual.In the next installment of this multi-series Article We will show you that, under present New York law, a New York resident and citizen of the United States does not have absolute control over his or her own firearms. That means that one’s private property interest is not preserved. If so, that is in contravention to the U.S. Constitution and in contravention to the New York State Constitution as well. We will begin to look at actual New York Statutes. We will list them, describe them, and explain how they operate to defeat one’s private property interest in one’s own firearms as they interfere with one’s right to make bequests of firearms to one’s heirs.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2015 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) and Vincent L. Pacifico (Orca) All Rights Reserved.

PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT

THE ARBALEST QUARREL'S RATIONALE FOR WRITING TO THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE, TO THE GOVERNOR AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, AND TO THE NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL

The New York Safe Act, signed into law by New York Governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, on January 15, 2013, is poorly drafted legislation. It was authorized without due process and in defiance of New York’s own State Constitution.The Safe Act is the Government’s model for undercutting the Second Amendment. The public knows this. But, what is not understood by most is that the Safe Act is destructive of private property rights too. The antigun establishment argues that the right to keep and bear arms is a collective right, not an individual right. But, in the seminal case, District of Columbia vs. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court made clear that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right, not merely a collective right. A person need not be a member of a State militia or other governmental military force to exercise the right to keep and bear arms.Moreover, an implication can be drawn from the Heller decision. Since an American citizen has the right, as an individual, to keep and bear arms, irrespective of membership in a State militia, this individual right to keep and bear arms presumes the citizen’s right to own the firearms he bears and keeps. Private property ownership is basic to a free America.The right of an American citizen to own property – to have exclusive and absolute ownership of property – is as fundamental a right to an American as the right to speak openly and freely under the First Amendment or to keep and bear arms under the Second.But, under the Safe Act a resident’s right of ownership in his own firearms is strained and constrained. New York law severely restricts a New York resident’s right to transfer ownership in his or her firearms to others upon the person’s death.New York residents may have one firearm worth a few hundred dollars or they may have collections of rare and expensive firearms worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars – perhaps millions of dollars. In either case, New York law restrains one’s ability to transfer firearms during one’s lifetime and restricts one’s ability to transfer firearms to one’s heirs upon the firearms’ owner’s death.The dollar value of a rare and expensive firearms’ collection may be severely compromised upon the death of a New York resident gun owner because New York law restricts transfers of firearms to heirs who happen to live in New York.In particular the New York Safe Act absolutely forbids the transfer of any firearm to an heir that is a Safe Act registered weapon unless that heir happens also to be a licensed New York gun dealer or an authorized police official.What does this mean for an individual who may happen to own a very rare and expensive firearm that happens to be a New York Safe Act registered weapon. Let’s consider an example.Suppose you have a gold-plated commemorative firearm that has a fair market value of $50,000.00, and suppose you wish to bequeath that firearm to your adult son or daughter upon your death. Suppose, further, that this gold-plated commemorative firearm is classified as a New York Safe Act registered weapon. Can you transfer that firearm – your personal property – to your adult son or daughter?Well, certainly nothing in New York law prevents you from bequeathing that firearm to your next of kin. But, the important question is whether your son or daughter can keep and enjoy that personal property, just as you had. And, there’s the rub.Your adult son or daughter can keep the firearm for up to 15 days. After that, the firearm must be turned over to the appropriate police official. At that point your son or daughter has up to one year to transfer or sell the firearm either to a licensed New York gun dealer or to a person or entity outside the State. If your adult heir fails to tell the police official how the Safe Act registered weapon is to be disposed of, the police official will destroy that firearm – a valuable collectible – one year from the date he or she obtains custody of it. There is no recourse. There is no remedy. There is no redress.Transference of firearms to a decedent’s rightful heirs creates an undue burden on the estate as the heirs may be ineligible to receive the firearms under the Safe Act. Thus, the Safe Act operates as an unconstitutional “taking” of one’s firearm in violation of the “Takings Clause” of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This cannot be tolerated. This contempt for our Bill of Rights cannot be condoned.The Arbalest Quarrel has recently written to every member of the New York State Senate and Assembly, in Albany, New York, and to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the New York and to the Attorney General for New York, requesting each of them to use his or her authority to amend New York law so that a New York resident and citizen of the United States may exercise the fundamental right of enjoyment in his or her private property – that such right may be preserved, consistent with the intent of the United States Constitution, the New York State Constitution, and the precepts of a capitalist society. The Arbalest Quarrel has also notified the New York Delegation in Washington D.C. of its action as well.If the notion of private property is to mean anything concrete in this Country, then no governmental body, State or Federal, should be allowed to undermine an American’s exclusive power over his or her private property. That means American citizens and law-abiding gun owners, including those citizens and gun owners who are residents of New York, should be able to transfer their firearms to their heirs, free of governmental interference and constraint. That is why New York law must be changed. It must comply with the U.S. Constitution and the New York State Constitution, and with principles of a free market economy.The fundamental right of ownership and power over one’s private property must not be diminished by political machination. The fundamental right of enjoyment in one’s private property, as protected in the “Takings Clause” of the Fifth Amendment, is as basic and as important and as fundamental a right to an American as any other right set forth in the Bill of Rights.We are posting our letter on the Arbalest Quarrel website. It appears as a separate blog post. We shall keep our readers apprised of the results: who responds, and who fails to respond to our letter; and what each respondent has said in reply to our letter.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2015 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) and Vincent L. Pacifico (Orca) All Rights Reserved.

GUN RIGHTS ARE NOT SIMPLY EMBODIED IN THE SACRED SECOND AMENDMENT. AMERICANS HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO THE PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF GUNS TOO.

GUN RIGHTS ACTUALLY TRANSCEND THE SECOND AMENDMENT; AN AMERICAN’S FIREARMS ARE HIS SACRED PRIVATE PROPERTY. AND ONE’S RIGHT IN ONE’S SACRED PRIVATE PROPERTY SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED EITHER.

Gun collections are private property. This may seem obvious to you. After all the concept of a private property right is deeply embedded in American culture. It is deeply embedded in America’s economic traditions. And it is deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of Americans. The right to own and possess private property is as fundamental a right in this Country as is the freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and as the freedom to keep and bear arms is under the Second Amendment.Unfortunately, New York law doesn't really treat guns as private property. But, then, New York law views gun possession as a privilege rather than as an inalienable right. So, it should come as no surprise that guns are treated less as private property and more like rental property. We say this because strict limitations are placed on New York residents' ability to transfer their firearms, especially apropos of transfers  of guns or gun collections to heirs. If one's right of enjoyment in and to one's private property were truly honored as a right, then no express or tacit limitation would be placed on one's full enjoyment of that private property. That enjoyment includes the right to dispose of the private property as one wishes, to those whom one wishes to give that property, assuming one wishes to dispose of his or her firearms at all. A person should not be required to dispose of his firearms or firearms' collection if those firearms or collection of firearms are truly private property. Nonetheless, New York Statute tells a person not only when or that he or she must dispose of a gun or collection of guns, but also how a disposal of guns or of an entire gun collection must take place. And the language of gun transfers is laid out not at all succinctly, clearly, and plainly, as one might reasonably expect, but in lengthy, agonizing, and often incoherent detail.

THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS ENTAILS THE RIGHT TO OWN FIREARMS AS ONE'S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE PRIVATE PROPERTY.

The concept of private property rights underlies and precedes the imperative of the Second Amendment: “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Further, the fundamental right of Americans to own, possess, and enjoy their private property is embraced in the language of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as specifically applied to the States under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Further, the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution secure for American gun owners the right to enjoy the liberties the Founders of our Republic intended for them as for all Americans. Present New York law denigrates the rights and protections and liberties of New York gun owners.Many New York residents have firearms’ collections worth many tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars – perhaps millions of dollars. The fair market value of these firearms’ collections is placed in jeopardy by specific language of the NY Safe Act, and in the language of the Penal Code of New York, and, by implication, in other Rules and Regulations of New York. In that regard it is not sound to argue that New York law provides firearms owners with mechanisms through which they can freely transfer, or sell, or otherwise dispose of their firearms to appropriate parties within the State or outside it. For the language of New York law is coercive. New York law often requires a gun owner to sell, transfer, or dispose of a particular gun or an entire gun collection when he doesn’t want to and prohibits him from bequeathing his gun collection to those whom he does want to bequeath his gun collection to. And he obtains little or no monetary compensation for that gun collection. Such coercion is antithetical to free market practices and turns the very notion of a free market on its head.Oddly, Governor Cuomo doesn’t address how a property interest in a firearms’ collection might be secured. We know this to be true as we have checked out the Governor’s website. You can check it out for yourself. This is the link: http://programs.governor.ny.gov/nysafeact/gun-owners.The Governor’s website provides absolutely no information or guidance for New York gun owners who seek to bequeath a gun collection to their next of kin. Doesn’t Governor Cuomo believe this matter to be important? If that is the case, clearly, tens of thousands of law-abiding New York gun owners would disagree with the Governor. They believe this to be a matter of utmost importance. Many of our readers have expressed considerable bewilderment over the matter of transferring gun collections to their heirs, and they have expressed substantial confusion as to the specific manner of transferring gun collections to their heirs.The testator owner of an expensive gun collection who wishes to bequeath a gun collection to his heirs should not be subject to impediments. But he is. New York law takes his expensive gun collection away from him. It takes his private property away from him without justly compensating him for it. And it deprives the New York gun owner of his expensive firearms collection, his private property, in complete derogation of the precepts laid out in the United States Constitution.In fact the taking of a New York resident’s gun collection without just compensation is not only in contradistinction to the United States Constitution; such taking is in derogation of the New York State Constitution, too.NY CLS Const Art I, § 7(a) says, “Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.” A person’s gun collection is his private property and the State essentially takes it from the owner and prospective heirs without just compensation. And, what public use is attendant to this “taking” of the firearms’ collection? Is the public use merely that a police department may, unbeknownst to the gun owner’s heirs, and, in fact, contrary even to the laws of New York, make use of the gun collection sans compensation to the owner’s heirs? Is the public use merely and incoherently that some of the firearms or the entirety of it will be destroyed by the police official and, so, the decedent’s heirs wind up with zero compensation for the firearms? The taking of private property without just compensation is also inconsistent with NY CLS Const Art I, § 11 which sets forth in pertinent part, “No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. By failing to safeguard the monetary value of a New York resident’s gun collection, through the taking of it without just compensation, New York clearly and categorically denies to gun owners the equal protection of the laws to which they are entitled.The Bottom line:New York Statute altogether ignores the precepts implicit in the United States Constitution and in New York’s own State Constitution. New York’s governments operate in complete derogation of and, in fact, in unconscionable defiance to the dictates of both. Whether New York residents own firearms or not, they must wake up to the monstrous destruction of sacred rights and liberties, lest they lose all rights and liberties. [separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2015 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour) and Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

THE ARSENAL OF DESTRUCTION: CONTROL OF THE CITIZENRY

PART 3: FATHERLAND, MOTHERLAND, HOMELAND: THE ORIGINS OF A POLICE STATE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES

SUBPART 1: CONTROL OF THE CITIZENRY

When historians consider the date the United States, a Free Republic, became a Police State, there will be disagreement aplenty. Many, if not all historians, will acknowledge, though, that transformation of the United States from a Free Republic, as envisioned by the Founders, to a Police State did not occur instantaneously. The change, historians likely will agree, occurred incrementally although with rapidity – indeed – with ferocity during the first decades of the 21^st century. Historians will likely emphasize the curtailment of Rights and Liberties expressly enshrined in the Bill of Rights. This is one indicium of the transformative process. The other indicium is the unprecedented usurpation of and accumulation of powers in one branch of the Federal Government, the Executive, and the simultaneous reduction of power – indeed – abdication of authority of another branch of the Federal Government, the Legislative. Historians will remark upon an important reversal: the institutions of Government that were created to serve the Public had turned on that Public, and the Public had become subservient to the institutions of Government.Control of the Public is key. The Public is perceived as a potential threat to the institutions of Government. To reduce that threat the Public must be controlled. The Bill of Rights must be dismembered: privacy – gone; freedom to speak one’s mind and to freely associate with one’s fellows – gone; and the right to keep and bear arms – gone.It is curious that, as the American citizen’s rights and liberties are slowly restricted and eventually erased, the powers of the Police State grow exponentially and those powers become paramount.The greatest concern to an authoritarian government is an armed citizenry. That must be dealt with first and foremost, and relentlessly by adherents of the Police State. An autocracy cannot function where the citizenry of the State is armed. Thus, an armed citizenry must be suppressed.The Government’s mechanism of repression is twofold: restrict the citizenry’s access to firearms and, contemporaneously, monitor and control the citizenry through the tripartite agencies of intelligence, police, and the military.In the past, in the Free Republic that once existed in the polity called the United States, the agencies of intelligence, police, and the military were clearly defined and demarcated. That is no longer the case. Police forces are now militarized. The military is taking on policing functions. And intelligence is ubiquitous – the distinction between internal security and foreign intelligence increasingly muddied. Every American citizen is now perceived as a potential threat to the “homeland” – no more or less so than a foreign national or stateless person. The Government doesn’t say that. But, it is so.The abdication of Congressional responsibility, together with the usurpation of power in the hands of the President, is painfully obvious. What powers the President doesn’t usurp overtly and wrongfully from Congress, Congress dutifully hands over to the President in a flood of Statutes – Statutes that clearly impinge and infringe upon the Bill of Rights. One of the most pernicious Statutes to date is “The Homeland Security Act of 2002,” 107 P.L. 209; 116 Stat. 2135. We will take a close look at that Statute and the manner in which the very existence of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) operates to destroy the individual integrity of police agencies, the integrity of the military, and the integrity of intelligence agencies. And we will take a close look at the manner in which the muddying of the integrity of those three discrete functions, as they operate today in America, jeopardizes the very sanctity of and continued existence of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2014 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour) and Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

THE ARSENAL OF DESTRUCTION: HOW ANTIGUN GROUPS SEEK TO DESTROY THE SECOND AMENDMENT

TWENTY-ONE MECHANISMS FOR DEFEATING THE SECOND AMENDMENT

OUR RATIONALE FOR DOING THIS MULTI-PART SERIES: FURTHER POINTS

There are forces at work today that seek to destroy our Bill of Rights. They seek to destroy, in particular, Americans’ right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment. Globalist cabals, through their toadies, have, to date, designed, crafted and implemented close to two dozen major strategies to undermine Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We refer to these strategies as the Arsenal of Destruction. Although seemingly disconnected, the Arsenal of Destruction comprises a singular, cohesive program through which the globalist cabals, through the Government they control, seek to undermine and eventually sever the Second Amendment from the U.S. Constitution.Much is at stake for Americans. If the Second Amendment falls, the other Nine Amendments most certainly will fall. For, the Second Amendment secures the other Nine Amendments. It is the binding glue that holds our Bill of Rights together.Once the Bill of Right topples, the Republic is undone.Many Americans don’t recognize this. Indeed, some Americans express no concern over this. For them the Second Amendment is an embarrassment – an artifact of an earlier time in our Nation’s history – a time when the import of the declaration – the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed – might have had significance but doesn’t any longer.  And, for a bizarre few Americans, the Second Amendment is more than an embarrassment – it’s a disgrace – an assertion of defiance to progress and to their notion of a civilized society. For still other Americans, the Second Amendment, and, for that matter, the remaining Nine, have no significance whatsoever. If they recall the Bill of Rights at all, the concept brings to mind an obscure question on tests once taken in grade school or high school, a lifetime ago.These disturbing reactions aren’t accidental. They are emblematic of the success of the globalists’ Arsenal of Destruction. The Arsenal of Destruction is an insidious and clever plot to sever our ties to our own unique heritage – a heritage purchased through the blood and toil and sacrifice of our Forefathers; a heritage our Forefathers sought to preserve through ratification of our sacred Bill of Rights. The Arsenal of Destruction, comprising close to two dozen strategies designed to undermine the Second Amendment has been meticulously designed, crafted and manufactured for especial use against Americans. These strategies are the latest in a line of attempts created at the behest of secretive forces both inside the U.S. and outside it to tear down the Second Amendment upon which the entirety of the Bill of Rights stands – upon which it obtains its true strength. By eroding the Bill of Rights, the bulwark of our Republic, the forces that seek a one World ruling body, hope to create homogeneity among all Western Nations. Once accomplished, the individual Nation States will vanish, and in time, the very notion of ‘Nation State’ will be consigned to memory and rendered nothing more than a historical oddity.More and more Americans live in a perpetual state of doubt and fear. Americans look to Big Government to protect them. And that Government foments and preys upon Americans’ weaknesses. The price for this false reliance on Government is the loss of Americans’ salient rights and liberties.The Arsenal of Destruction implemented to destroy the Bill of Rights in general and the Second Amendment in particular is cloaked under carefully cultivated terminology designed to induce irrational fear: “national security,” “gun violence,” “public order,” “terrorism.” These phrases and other similar phrases are mere inventions, artfully crafted, carefully utilized, and assiduously repeated by the mainstream news media like mantras to keep the American public off balance, afraid, confused. These memes seep into the public mind, infiltrate the public psyche, overwhelm the public consciousness.Americans hear more about what they are expected to fear and less about how, in accordance with their fundamental rights and liberties, they might expect to be treated. More often discussions over our sacred rights and liberties are glossed over by the mainstream news media, if mentioned at all.For the sake of feigned security from manufactured bugaboos, Americans forsake their right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment, forbear from speaking their minds under the First Amendment, and forswear the right to be left alone under the Fourth Amendment. As we explore the Arsenal of Destruction in the next several articles, you would do well to consider our discussion in the context of our present Government – what it has become, who it serves, to whom it answers. Consider well the powers wielded by and usurped by that Government – such powers the Founders of our Republic sought to confine, the powers they sought to check, for the Republic they sought to preserve.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2014 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour) and Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

THE ARSENAL OF DESTRUCTION: ANTIGUN GROUPS -- TWENTY-ONE MECHANISMS USED FOR DEFEATING THE SECOND AMENDMENT (PART 2)

PART 2

PREFACE

In Part 1 of this Article series we laid out twenty-one salient strategies the Globalists have both concocted and implemented through their toadies to weaken the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In this post we provide our rationale for this series – to make abundantly clear why we are doing this, to explain what really is at stake here for the American public. In Part 3 and subsequent parts of this Article series we provide an analytical account of the strategies. You will see not only how each of these strategies works, but you will, hopefully, gain an understanding of how they mesh. And, you will appreciate the expansiveness of each of these strategies; their sinister nature; the obvious scorn the creators of these strategies have for the American People. You will come to realize, indeed, the noxious, utter audaciousness of their entire enterprise.

INTRODUCTORY SYNOPSIS: PURPOSE OF ARTICLE

This Article is presented in multiple parts. Its purpose is two-fold: first to consolidate and provide you with a detailed compilation of the principle strategies the obscenely wealthy, powerful, ruthless globalist cabals, through their toadies, have devised and implemented to wreak havoc on America’s Second Amendment and, second, to place those strategies in the broader context of the ultimate goal, the endgame for these silent, extraordinarily secretive cabals: the destruction of the U.S. Constitution and, with its destruction, the dissolution of our Country as an Independent, Sovereign Nation State. On September 2nd we posted Part 1 of this Article. In that Article we gave you a detailed list of the principle strategies, designed to thwart the import and purport of the Second Amendment. With the posting of Part 1, we completed the first aspect of our two-fold purpose for doing this Article series. In this post, Part 2, as pointed out above, we provide you with our rationale for doing this series. We then move to the nitty-gritty – the second part of our two-fold purpose for doing this series.In our next post, Part 3, we begin the second task, proper: giving you a comprehensive, coherent, cohesive, compact look at the nature of the various strategies themselves: how they in fact work; what they are designed to do. We give you cogent, irrefutable, empirical evidence for each of them. Some of these strategies employed for destruction of the Second Amendment are well known; others less so, some, perhaps, not at all; and a few may not even be recognized for what they really are – destroyers of the Second Amendment in particular and of the rest of the Bill of Rights, generally. We look at all of them and describe the essence of each of them. Once we have completed that task, the second of our two-fold purpose for this Article series will be met.The strategies the globalists, through their toadies, employ for the destruction of the Second Amendment are in various stages of implementation. Most of them are designed to be ongoing – cumulative enterprises in their own right, involving refinement and tinkering in accordance with public reaction. If viewed as a whole, the strategies exhibit a curious mosaic, emblematic of something more and other than a mere mechanism directed to destruction of the Second Amendment alone. For, when viewed as a unified whole, these strategies -- this arsenal of destruction -- demonstrate the desire of and extent to which these powerful transnationalist, secretive, plutocratic cabals desire not only the destruction of the Second Amendment of the United States but the erasing of the Bill of Rights, and the replacing of the Bill of Rights with something other, something banal, something completely innocuous, something completely devoid of anything remotely like our Second Amendment. Then, too, these sinister globalist, plutocratic cabals are ambiguating the very notions of ‘citizen’ and ‘nation state.' Their intentions are sometimes plain; more often hidden; and clearly not benign. Indeed, one of the strategies we list is in fact the most damning of all. It is coextensive with their endgame: the disassembling of America – the destruction of America as a culturally significant, independent, Sovereign Nation State.We wish to impress upon you, to make you acutely aware of, to sensitize you to the insidious nature of, the sheer audacity of, the vast scope of the globalist cabals’ agenda, calling for a One World Government. To accomplish this enormous and ignoble feat, well underway with the creation of the European Union, the globalists understand the need to denigrate the U.S. Constitution, commencing with the fracturing of our Bill of Rights. And, in that regard, they realize the attendant need to dispose of the Second Amendment in particular. Thus, the idea thrust on a somnolent American public – that erosion of the Second Amendment is necessary to reduce gun violence – is a blind – an absolute fiction. The ludicrousness of this antigun position, broadcast loudly and ever more incessantly through the bullhorn of the mainstream news media, will become clear, will become dispositive beyond disproof – not through the tit-for-tat recitation of statistical data – but by waking you up to a new perspective – one where you can truly appreciate the dangers to our Republic that the antigun effort poses, given the vast scale of the antigun effort landscape and the extent of its reach. When seen from the vantage point of an eagle rather than from the narrow vantage point of an ostrich, the false idea that antigun measures are nothing more than an expression of the desire for reduction in gun violence will dissolve of its own accord. That false idea will be seen for the shallow absurdity that it is. The globalist cabals’ penultimate goal is substantially more ambitious. They seek nothing less than the undermining and dismantling of the United States Constitution, commencing with the undercutting of the Bill of Rights. Thus, the cabals give particular attention to the Second Amendment – the first step in that direction; and once the Second Amendment has been dismantled, the Bill of Rights ended, and the United States demoted to the ranks of a mere appendage to a One World Government -- and with the confining of, the strangling of Western Civilization's populations -- the globalist cabals' ultimate wish will have been realized, their final goal attained.As we delve into the arsenal of destruction, keep uppermost in mind, then: the effort to destroy our Second Amendment is not the endgame for these cabals. It is, rather, merely one goal in a larger pursuit: the destruction of the entirety of the Bill of Rights and of the rest of the U.S. Constitution. The endgame involves dismantling the United States so that the United States no longer exists as an independent, Sovereign Nation State. And, with its demise as an independent, Sovereign Nation, so too will end the very concept of ‘citizen of the United States.’  The globalist cabals' New World Order may then, at that point, as originally envisioned, have been realized.So, why do we concern ourselves here with the Second Amendment specifically and not with the Bill of Rights generally? We do so because the globalists are most concerned with the mere fact of the Second Amendment. It is important for you to understand, indeed, for all Americans to understand, that the Second Amendment is the cornerstone, the linchpin of our free Republic. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution – more so than any other aspect of our Constitution – is, to date, among all other constitutions of purported Western democracies, the most accurate expression of a free People – of what it truly means to be an American. It is the clear, unmistakable expression of what it means to be an American. So, the globalists must deal with it, must eradicate it, must destroy every vestige of it.Take a look at the constitutions of any other Western nation. It is highly unlikely you will come across anything remotely like the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.This Amendment, more so than any other, is the best defense – the only real guardian against tyranny. The tyranny that we face today, though, is unlike any tyranny our Founders might reasonably have imagined. It is a tyranny springing not merely from ruthless plutocratic powers within the Republic who seek to erode the basic rights and protections of the People as set forth in the first Eight Amendments of the Bill of Rights and who seek, too, to usurp the powers retained by the States and by the American People as guaranteed under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of our Bill of Rights. Rather, it is a tyranny of and by a secretive cabal of plutocratic powers both within the United States and outside it. What these ruthless powerful, cabals are engineering is not simply an independent Country that happens to be governed by a plutocratic dictatorship. The Grand Design is broader in scale and much more sinister. These cabals are orchestrating the demise of the United States as an independent Sovereign Nation State.As the creation of the European Union has served to undercut the economic independence of the individual Nation States of Western Europe and as the creators of the EU are, even now, working on undercutting the political framework of those Nation States as well – which will mark their demise – so, too, in this Country, we are seeing early signs of erosion of the notion of the United States as an independent political entity. First we shall see the creation of a North American Union (“NAU”). Such Union will require the disassembling of the Constitutions of the constituent Countries, Mexico and Canada, of the NAU. Disassembling of the United States Constitution will be the most difficult – a most monumental task, and such task is undoubtedly a top priority of the globalists. Why is this so? It isn’t simply because the Constitution embodies a Bill of Rights. Many Countries have a bill of rights. But ours is quite unique, given its clear, cogent, emphatic import and purport: it is backed in particular by the Second Amendment that has no parallel or antecedent in the Bill of Rights of any other nation we have come across; for the Second Amendment of the United States cannot lawfully be disengaged from the American People by the Federal Government. It is not subject to simple legal foreclosure. It can only be lawfully repealed under the strictures of Article V of the U.S. Constitution, and that is virtually impossible as repeal  of any Constitutional Amendment was made deliberately difficult by our Founders and for good reason: to prevent usurpation of the essential rights and liberties of the People. Lastly, the Second Amendment acts like a “Notice Provision” to would-be dictators, for the Second Amendment isn’t merely an expression of the personal autonomy of the individual American citizen, and the Second Amendment isn't merely an acknowledgement of the citizen’s right of self-defense, and the Second Amendment isn’t merely the Founders’ order to the federal government and to its standing army that the American citizen is not to be interfered with -- that he has the inalienable right to be left alone. Yes, the Second Amendment is a written expression of all these natural rights. But, it is also something more – much more – something that isn’t intimated, let alone explicitly expressed in the constitution of or in the bill of rights section of such constitution of any other Western Country. For, unlike any other provision of our Bill of Rights -- and certainly unlike any provision even remotely like our Second Amendment that might be written in the constitutions of the  few Western Nations were those Nations to have articulated  such a provision in their constitutions at all – the Second Amendment is the ultimate Guardian of the Republic; the absolute Fortress of the American People against Tyranny. No other Constitution, in any other Country that we are aware of, boldly informs its federal government that the government exists solely and exclusively at the pleasure of and for the benefit of its People and that the People – the People alone – reserve for themselves the right to effectively dismantle that government once that government turns toward autocracy and tyranny. And, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the People the means to do so. This simple truth gives the plutocrats, the globalists -- those secretive entrenched interests -- deep concern. An armed public is not to be lightly dismissed. So, an armed public must be dealt with. The Arsenal of Destruction is the means to do so. When one looks at the sheer number of and complexity of and manner in which these various strategies are designed to insinuate themselves into the fabric of American society, the manner in which they may operate together as well as singly to attack each American's right to keep and bear arms, and the clear insistent, omnipresent manner in which they undermine the Second Amendment, the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn is that this effort is not accidental. This effort to undercut the Second Amendment isn't simply and solely a response to "gun violence." Rather, the strategies to undercut the Second Amendment are part of a plan that has been carefully orchestrated. There is a concerted effort afoot by secretive moneyed interests to undercut the moral, cultural, and historical fabric of this Nation. And this is taking place clearly, and callously and cleverly: partly seen and partly shielded. Americans are losing their basic rights as citizens. Their power over their own Government is being quietly, purposefully derailed.In other Countries, if the people can keep and bear arms, that the people may do so at all, is only and solely at the pleasure of that Country’s government: the king, or other despot. It isn't an inalienable right. It isn't any kind of right. It isn't a right at all. It's merely a privilege. And it's a privilege that can be taken away as easily as given: one that the government creates and one the government can, in, and with, and at its imperial discretion, break. This means, of course, that governments of other purported Western Democracies – every one of them – have the seeds of “lawful” tyranny within them. Any Country that can lawfully deny its citizens’ right to keep and bear arms out-of-hand is potentially one that may rule autocratically. Such a Country is one in which the People serve at the pleasure of the State, not the other way around. Such a Country is one in which the People are merely subjects of the State, not citizens of the State. There is a critical difference. Such a Country where the People are essentially subjects, not citizens, is a Country that is not in the least beholden to its People. In such a Country, tyranny exists "up around the corner, just around the bend."Once an autocracy is established, the first thing it does is gather the weaponry of the citizens who might happen to have weapons. That is how an autocracy works: through the disarming of the public. It is how autocratic governments have always worked. It is an autocracy’s first order of business.  Can that happen in the U.S.? Not likely! Certainly, not easily! Clearly, not lawfully! The globalists’ toadies, though, use deception. They are very good at it. They have had a lot of practice at it.If a problem arises, the globalists are adept at designing workarounds – specially adapted to an intractable, intransigent, wary, and, from their perspective, incorrigible American Public. They know, well enough, the tenacity – indeed, temerity – of the American spirit. Such spirit will be very difficult to break. The globalists don’t care. They are very patient. They move ponderously, inexorably ahead. What they have planned for the U.S. – for Western Civilization generally – has been in operation for decades. They have many resources: not least of which are money, manpower, organization, control of all major business sectors, control of technology, and control of all news outlets. And they have a surplus of intangible resources, as well, that include cunning, amorality, ruthlessness, and absolute contempt for the sanctity of the individual. So, there is a contest of equal forces here: the indomitability of the American Spirit versus the rapacious internationalist, plutocratic, neoliberal, oligarchic Ego.And now you know: the transnational globalist cabals, through their toadies, must undermine the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to realize their ultimate goal of a One World Government. Once the Second Amendment has been dismantled -- once that task has been accomplished – if that task can be accomplished – the Will of America withers and dies.So, as the globalists proceed on their merry way, we see their Arsenal of Destruction is thus directed to that end: To break America’s Will. But, to break America's Will, they know that they must first break America’s Back. And, to break America’s Back they must first destroy the Second Amendment.The sine qua non of America is its Second amendment. Once gone, the rest is easy for the globalists. A dire fate for America is not, however, a foregone conclusion. It need not be if Americans remain ever vigilant. And, it is our wish to assist you in maintaining that vigilance. Awareness of the globalist cabals' Arsenal of Destruction assists you in maintaining that vigilance.In our next post, Part 3 of this Article series, to be published forthwith, we will take a close look at the first strategy in the globalists' Arsenal of Destruction – an oblique end run around the Second Amendment:

MILITARIZATION/FEDERALIZATION OF CIVILIAN POLICE FORCES ACROSS THE COUNTRY THROUGH THE MACHINATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENTS OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) AND DEFENSE (DOD)

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APPS: CA Registration Scheme?

[video type="youtube" id="DwRvDXq8ft8" autoplay="true"]APPS (Armed & Prohibited Persons System): California's Universal Registration Scheme?

STRATEGIES FOR DESTRUCTION: HOW ANTIGUN GROUPS SUBVERT THE SECOND AMENDMENT

There are many strategies antigun zealots use to undermine the Second Amendment. Let’s take a look at a few of them.One way is through enactment of Federal and State Statutes. At the moment we have hundreds. The antigun zealots push for more. They try to hoodwink the public. To do so, they bide their time until a calamity occurs. Then they pounce, exploiting personal misfortune shamelessly. The tragedy at Newtown, Connecticut gave the zealots a grand opening. They took it. They attacked gun ownership directly and tried to ban many firearms under the fiction of “assault weapons.” Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat from California, tried to push through an ambitious assault weapons ban following the Newtown incident. She did this successfully once before. She and her colleagues in the Senate passed the first assault weapons ban, dubbed “AWB,” two decades ago, in 1994. It wasn’t as strong as she wanted. Former Democratic President Clinton signed it. And the Nation bore it for 10 years. Fortunately, the “AWB” had a sunset provision. It expired in 2004. Congress didn’t renew it. Fast-forward 9 years. A lunatic decides to shoot young school children. The incident provided the antigun groups with the ammunition they sought to resurrect the “AWB.” This time Dianne Feinstein pulled out all stops. She wanted a bold “assault weapons” ban. This new bill, modeled on NY SAFE, failed miserably. NY SAFE is a State Statute. New York residents can thank Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the State Legislature for it. If Feinstein’s 2013 bill had passed, the Nation would have suffered New York’s fate. Antigun groups learned something from Feinstein’s embarrassing failure. They learned that banning guns outright doesn’t work on the National stage. And most States won’t follow New York’s example. Colorado tried and two Legislators lost their heads over it. So, the antigun crowd tried a different tack: deception and pretense. Don’t go after guns directly. Attack the Second Amendment around the edges.The tactic now is background checks. This isn’t new. Shortly after signing the assault weapons ban in 1994, President Clinton signed into law another restrictive gun measure: a background checks law. It’s referred to as the “Brady Law.” Despite the hoopla and fanfare, it’s a dud as an anticrime measure. Prosecutions don’t exist. The “Brady Law” is a step toward universal gun registration. That’s its silent but true purpose. On its 20-year anniversary “The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence,” kicked off its latest campaign: “enhanced” background checks. We discuss this in our March 2nd blog post. Take a look. By seemingly retreating from its goal to ban all guns in this Country, The Brady Campaign hopes to blindside the public. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also calling for background checks. And other antigun groups are following suit.Antigun zealots use various catchphrases with this new push for background checks. They include: “common-sense gun laws we all can live with,” “reasonable gun regulations,” “a sensible middle ground,” and similar claptrap. As the annual NRA meeting got underway in Indianapolis last week, the antigun group, “Mom’s Demand Action” held their “Stroller Jam” in the City, adding their own slogan to the mix: “it’s time for gun sense in America.” So, we see a new strategy among the antigun zealots. This latest incremental assault on the Second Amendment isn’t direct. The antigun zealots have shied away from talk of gun bans – at least for the moment. They attack the Second Amendment “obliquely” through statutes that thwart gun ownership, but don’t ban guns outright. If successful, the antigun zealots will target guns and gun possession directly. That’s their endgame.Another way antigun zealots attack our sacred Second Amendment is through the device of international pacts and treaties. Only the U.S. President can use this device but we know President Obama is open to antigun measures. After all, Obama’s an antigun zealot. Last September Secretary of State John Kerry signed, for President Obama, an international arms trade treaty, called the “ATT.” On the surface this Treaty aims to control the multibillion dollar illicit arms trade. But, it also impacts domestic weapons transactions. Apart from the United States, none of the signatory Countries has a Constitution embodying the individual right to keep and bear arms. The Treaty is inconsistent with that right. Proponents of the “ATT” deny this of course. But, the “ATT’s” negative impact on the “right to keep and bear arms” is clear. If I buy an imported gun, I must register it. So, the Treaty trumps the U.S. Constitution. Now Congress hasn’t yet approved the “ATT” and likely won’t. Will Obama enforce the “ATT” anyway? Can he?There’s been no public debate on the “ATT.” The mainstream media doesn’t talk about it. And it's troubling that a President may sidestep Congress on critical matters – those that impact our sacred “Bill of Rights.” Consider too: President Obama has other instrumentalities at his disposal to defeat the Second Amendment, including “signing statements” and “executive orders.” These instrumentalities thwart Congress and the People. In fact, Obama has threatened to use executive orders if Congress fails to pass new, restrictive gun laws. This is a naked power grab.A third way antigun zealots may attack the Second Amendment is the most direct and involves either rewriting the Second Amendment or repealing it outright. Of course, outright repeal won’t happen – at least for now. Outright repeal is a blatant act and would signal the end of the United States as a Republic. Such a move would invite rebellion.Suppose someone were to redraft the Second Amendment. Consider what this means. Retired United States Supreme Justice John Paul Stevens aims to do just that. In his recently published book, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution, Justice Stevens, suggests a change. His redraft of the Second Amendment is this: “The right of the people to keep and bear arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed.” His rewrite turns the Second Amendment on its head. The fundamental “right of the individual to keep and bear arms,” as embodied in the independent clause of the original, is lost. In Stevens’ proposed redraft of the Second Amendment, emphasis is on ‘militia.’ How he defines the word is anyone’s guess. Does ‘militia’ mean ‘national guard?’ Well, the U.S. President can call a State’s National Guard into federal service. The Second Amendment in its original form is a check on the Federal Government’s power. The early idea of ‘militia’ and the modern notion of ‘National Guard’ aren’t the same. Stevens’ proposed revision destroys the Second Amendment right as our Founders imagined.Suppose ‘militia’ refers to a State’s police forces. Well, a State may exercise its police powers. That’s an inherent State privilege. So, Stevens’ redraft adds nothing to a State’s exercise of its own police powers. But on another interpretation Stevens’ redraft destroys a State’s police powers if such power draws from the Federal Government. If so, police powers do not rest in the States. They rest solely in the Federal Government.But, on any interpretation of Stevens’ redraft “the right to keep and bear arms” is no longer a right of the “People.” That point’s clear. Also, Stevens’ proposed redraft of the Second Amendment sets the foundation for a conflict between Government and the “People.” On balance Stevens’ proposed redraft of the Second Amendment is worse than outright repeal, disastrous as outright repeal is.We can only ponder. What’s Stevens’ agenda? Who's he serving? But this we know. Stevens cares little for our most sacred Right! His like-minded fellow travelers would agree with him on that.[separator type="medium" style="normal" align="left"margin-bottom="25" margin_top="5"] Copyright © 2014 Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) and Roger J Katz (Towne Criour) All Rights Reserved.

Bill Of Rights/2A under Siege: Americans Prepare for Battle

The American Public has begun a steady, unstoppable pushback against recent antigun measures. The NYSAFE Act of 2013 was the first of these recent antigun measures. Others soon followed. Antigun zealots in Congress, the White House and in State Governments across the Country gave these abusive measures absurd and laughable titles, among them: “commonsense gun laws we need now;” “commonsense gun laws we can live with;” and “commonsense legislation to end gun violence.” But there is nothing “common” nor “sensical” about them. The slogans do not create enthusiasm for restrictive gun laws. They incense the Public, and rightly so. The Public has made clear it would squash the antigun zealots before it would quash the Second Amendment.The Obama Administration and the allied antigun coalitions are powerless to stop the juggernaut. They wish to do so but cannot. They cannot do so because they fail to understand it. Are they naïve? Perhaps there exists a more sinister and secretive force behind these antigun measures. Are these restrictive antigun laws a scheme of internationalists? We believe so. Is the United States to lose its unique heritage? Must this Nation join the New World Order?These internationalist schemers cannot or choose not to understand the American citizenry’s adoration for their Bill of Rights. They misunderstand the strength and resilience and steadfastness of the American psyche and soul. Nonetheless, they intend to break the American will. They use deception and tricks.These internationalist schemers befriend public leaders who share their goal for a one-world government and corrupt those who don’t. They are dismissive of the American Public. They tire of our resolve. The internationalist puppet masters control both the Obama Administration and antigun coalitions around the Country. These un-American forces are dealing with Public “obstruction” in several ways – through executive orders; through international pacts and treaties; through Statutes like restrictive gun measures that slowly whittle away our liberties.These anti-American forces seek to bypass the American Public, to bypass public accountability, to bypass the U.S. Constitution. They are keenly aware of and clearly fear the threat an armed citizenry poses to their ruthless and illegal takeover of power.Curiously, two U.S. Supreme Court Justices – one active, the other retired – attack the sanctity of our Constitution.A little over two years ago, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave advice to the Egyptian Election Commission. The Commission was drafting a new constitution for Egypt. “I can’t speak about what the Egyptian experience should be,” she said, “because I’m operating under a rather old constitution. The United States, in comparison to Egypt, is a very new nation, and yet we have the oldest written constitution still in force in the world. . . . You should certainly be aided by all the constitution-writing that has gone on since the end of World War II. I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa.”Yes, Justice Ginsburg, our Constitution is old. Redrafting our Constitution destroys it. Once destroyed, our Republic dies. The founders knew this. They weren’t fools. They knew external change is unavoidable. But the Rights set forth in our Bill of Rights are Rights indestructible. These Rights exist for all time, not simply for the eighteenth century, or the nineteenth century, or the twentieth century or the twenty-first century. Our Rights are unalienable Rights. They don’t expire.Would Justice Ginsburg like to rewrite our Constitution? Would she use South Africa’s Constitution as a guide? There are dozens of sections in South Africa’s “Bill of Rights” – none of them remotely suggestive of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Would Justice Ginsburg omit the clause, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” in her new draft of a U.S. Constitution?Recently, as reported on AmmoLand, retired Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a book, titled, “Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution.” It’s due out in late April 2014. Among the “changes,” Stevens proposes elimination of the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Did someone urge or even cajole Stevens at this late stage in his life into writing a recipe book, directed to undermining our sacred Bill of Rights? We believe so.The forces that crush are at work. They are feverishly at work. They are at work hatching plans to destroy our sacred Bill of Rights, beginning with the Second Amendment.These forces have in the past conducted oblique assaults. The American citizenry is of late facing direct frontal attacks. Antigun forces have grown anxious and frustrated. They have are weary of incremental steps to gain their objective. They now make no pretense of their aim: Get rid of the Second Amendment. The Public is repulsing the attack, and repulsing it hard.But can these forces lawfully deny through legislative or executive action? No! The Right doesn’t exist because the Founders wrote it down. It exists under “Natural Law.” The Second Amendment is simply a codification of the Right. The Right existed before the “Bill of Rights.” The Right is eternal.Why, then, did the Founders write down – codify – the Second Amendment? Why did the Founders view a codification of a natural Right necessary? The written text serves as a reminder. The Founders of our Nation etched the Second Amendment in stone to remind those vested with enormous power t own it. The real power is vested in the People.The Right to Keep and Bear Arms means the People have a natural right of self-defense at home and in public and against an overreaching Federal Government and its standing army. Privacy is also a natural Right. The Government must leave the People alone. These natural rights go together. Since the State does not and cannot grant them, the State cannot lawfully remove them. No one can. But the Government through the internationalist puppet masters still tries. “The king can do no wrong” is a maxim of English Common Law. It’s an anathema. The “king can do no wrong” – meaning the King can do whatever he wants and answers to no one – has no corollary in American common law or statute. The American Revolution was a direct facial attack on the maxim. “The king can do no wrong,” has no place in a free Republic. Our unalienable right to keep and bear arms is a threat to those who tacitly embrace the maxim, “The king can do no wrong” to subdue the masses.The American Public is rejecting en mass the sops fed it, to tame it – to crush it into submission. At the Arbalest Quarrel we point to anti-American forces at work who seek to destroy our Constitution. We discuss the strategies employed and we explain how they work. Take a look at all our posts.________________________________

Copyright © 2014 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour) and Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

Arbalest's Stephen D'Andrilli Addresses U.S. Gun Rights on 'INSIDE AMERICA'

[video type="youtube" id="G_8mU7kgoKk" autoplay="true"]Arbalest Group's co-founder, Stephen D'Andrilli, defends Second Amendment and 'Right to Bear Arms' on INSIDE AMERICA: Can the US Solve Its Gun Problem?