Opinion

We are told that when Ben Franklin left the Old Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, an elderly woman asked “What hath ye wrought?” Franklin is reported to have responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Today, with Election Day 2024 looming large ahead of us, I would respond with: “A republic, if you can save it.” 

Our Republic is under attack, which means our fundamental rights are in jeopardy.

The Founders of our Republic created a democratically elected Republic rather than a true democracy because they understood and feared a “tyranny by the majority”[mob rule]. Today, I call the modern manifestation of that fear “Blue State Tyranny,” a phenomenon that far too often results from one-party rule where the Democrats are in the majority, as we see today in far too many East Coast, West Coast, and Northern Tier states.

You probably remember the line from Mel Gibson’s character in the movie “The Patriot” where Gibson asks, “What is the difference between one tyrant three thousand miles away and three thousand tyrants one mile away?”

Each state entered the Constitutional Convention as a sovereign entity united under the Articles of Confederation. Each was fearful of creating an oppressive central government, and each sought to retain as much of their own sovereignty as possible.

The Republic created by our United States Constitution is a complex, interdependent, and extremely necessary system of checks and balances – a system specifically designed to protect against a “tyranny by the majority.” Among those checks and balances are three co-equal branches of government (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial), each designed as a check and balance against the other two; the Electoral College, wherein votes are cast by each state balanced by population; and initially, a Senate elected by the legislatures of each of the States with the House to be elected by popular vote within each state.

The Bill of Rights, passed just a few years later, added the first ten Amendments, including our beloved Second Amendment, as even further checks on government power.

The Senate subsequently established yet another check and balance for itself when it adopted the “filibuster rules” – rules specifically designed to protect the interests of the Senate Minority against “a tyranny by the majority.”

…Too Much Freedom!

The first real attack on that complex set of checks and balances and upon our republican form of government occurred over 100 years ago, in 1913, with the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment. This amendment established the election of senators by popular vote, stripping that power away from the state legislatures. The original intent of the Founders was for the House to represent the people directly, while the Senate was to represent the various interests of the individual states.

Grievously wounded by the Seventeenth Amendment, this next election could be fatal to our Republic’s continued viability.

The Democrats now want to abolish the Electoral College and, if they win the Senate, do away with the “filibuster rules.” And, if the Democrats run the table and win both Houses of Congress and the presidency, they will pack the Supreme Court with gun-hating justices, thus establishing a true “tyranny by the majority,” which they will defend by calling it “democracy.”

If they succeed in these nefarious attacks on our constitution, our Republic will be dead. And our precious Second Amendment will either be repealed or rendered meaningless by the new “packed court,” aided and abetted by a runaway Congress and a power-hungry, gun-hating president.

Because you are reading this in AmmoLand News, I know you are a dedicated Second Amendment Patriot and that you understand what is at stake in this year’s General Election – the most important election of our lifetime and maybe in the history of our country.

And because you are reading this in AmmoLand News, I know that you are registered to vote and that you will vote “Freedom First” by voting for only those who will protect our precious Right to Keep and Bear Arms and against those who would infringe upon that right or abolish it altogether. This year, more than any other, every vote counts and is important—especially your vote.

The Democrats have made choosing which candidates to vote for amazingly easy, indeed.

The Democratic Party has openly and brazenly declared war on the Second Amendment and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and against our Republic and the Supreme Court that protects that all-important system of checks and balances.

So, I know you will vote [and vote early] – I know that because you are Second Amendment Patriots, and patriots always do their patriotic duty. It is our duty, as patriotic Americans, to vote.

But this year, voting is not enough! We must do more—we must do much more.

Just as we all know, we must always “follow through” on a shot to “finish the shot,” so we must also follow through on our vote to “finish the vote.”

By that, I mean we must make sure every other freedom-loving American votes, too. We must make sure everyone who believes in Freedom casts a vote for Freedom. We must call them, text them, email them, visit them, and remind them that this is the most important election of our lifetimes – and drive them to the polls if that is what it takes.

Make a list, check it twice, and then contact everyone on that list – pester them until you know they have voted. Even if we currently live in a “Blue State,” your vote, my vote, and every vote counts – especially this year.

We must never give up. We must never give in. We must never surrender. We must always fight for American Freedom and our beloved Republic. It is our patriotic duty.

Save our Republic – vote for Freedom when you vote – and vote to save the Second Amendment.

Guns are on the ballot – save our guns.

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About John C. Sigler

Mr. John C. Sigler is Chair of NRA’s F-Class High Power Rifle Committee. John was a member of the United States F-Class (Open) Rifle Teams that won the 2023 World Championship (Gold Medal) in South Africa and the Third Place Bronze Medal at the 2017 World Championships in Canada. Mr. Sigler holds NRA Distinguished International Rifleman Badge #67.