Our culture in the Second Amendment

The history of our country is a rebellious one. The U.S. was founded by brave individuals ready and willing to take up arms when they felt the need to defend their God-given rights. Economic exploitation, lack of political representation, and unfair taxation were among the reasons they did so.

Early Americans were ready to fight for justice and independence with the message to Parliament and the monarchy,“Don’t Tread on Me.” The right to keep and bear arms is not just written in our Constitution; it is embedded in American culture. It would not be accurate to compare our gun laws to that of other nations plainly due to how our founders formed our nation and the early spirit Americans held for independence.

While many of us have bared witness to attacks on our nation, we have historically not seen a  foreign war on U.S. soil. Part of this may be attributed to our geographical location but as Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto allegedly said, “You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.” 

Though factually unsubstantiated, the sentiment of the statement holds true. Whether our geographical location or our Second Amendment has prevented Americans from witnessing the horror of a brutal foreign war in our backyard, the right to defend ourselves as citizens could certainly be taken into consideration by our enemies wishing to do us harm.

Enemies to the U.S. are obvious. They are adversaries of democracy and individual freedoms.

Nations like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are among many countries who are actively anti-American. Pay attention — dictators of these countries are watching carefully as the U.S. grows weaker day by day under the Biden administration. 

In nearly every facet of our society today — we are failing. Our economy is experiencing the worst inflation we’ve ever seen, our border is unsecure, we have lost our energy independence, and our national security has grown weak. We witnessed a messy withdrawal from Afghanistan  leading to the fall of their government with in a matter of days and billions of dollars in U.S. equipment left behind. It has been one spectacular failure after another and our adversaries are keenly aware of our inept leadership. 

Now, many anti-Second Amendment individuals are begging the government to ban guns. It is  intellectually lazy to believe this will curb gun violence. I urge those Americans to reconsider  this position and help find a way to curb gun violence without disarming our citizens.

While elements of America may appear outwardly weak, our inward strength may be the only saving grace we have to protect freedoms and liberties.

Ralph Norman represents South Carolina’s 5th District.