250 Years of Keeping and Bearing Arms

America’s 250th Birthday is here! This Independence Day will be a grand and glorious celebration of our wonderful and magnificent country, a nation truly unlike any other on the Earth.

Undoubtedly for most, it will be a time of immense pride as we recognize the beauty, the grandeur, the accomplishment, and the enduring promise of America. At the same time, it will be an occasion for deep reflection, as we take a moment to remember the costs and the sacrifices necessary to break from England and secure our nation against two-and-a-half centuries’ worth of challenges and threats.

Even a cursory study of American history makes a few things clear.

First, our sagacious Founding Fathers possessed a keen understanding of human behavior, conflict, government, and the nature of power. Second, they knew the effort required to form a nation, especially a radical experiment like ours, was the ultimate high-stakes gamble, and that failure to defeat England in the Revolutionary War meant certain death.

They also understood that the freedom to keep and bear arms was central to the American identity – the fight to establish it and the fight to preserve life and liberty thereafter. While the Second Amendment wouldn’t come for another 15 years after 1776, its spirit was woven into the fabric of the American republic from the beginning.

It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that without an armed citizenry – the core of the colonial militia – there would be no battle against British oppression, and there would be no new nation, and no future for a free America.

The success of the Revolution ultimately hinged on a few key elements, the most direct of which was the citizen-soldier himself, ready and willing to die for our righteous cause. At any moment, that revolutionary citizen could be called to muster, grab a rifle or shotgun from the hearth, and head to fight.

Two hundred and fifty years later, it might be difficult for many of us to imagine what this felt like (aside from those who have intimate experience in defending their lives, families, property, and country with arms). But in the immediate aftermath of the war, the framers of the Constitution understood clearly the role that arms played in the creation of America – and what was needed to ensure preservation of liberty and sovereignty moving forward. That’s why, on December 15, 1791, the first ten amendments to the Constitution were ratified as the Bill of Rights.

The necessity of firearms in America did not expire with the passing of the revolutionary generation. The country’s expansion throughout the 19th century, both in war and via peaceful exploration, depended on an armed populace – or, at the very least, it relied upon people well-versed in the handling and use of arms.

The uncharted regions of America beyond the original 13 colonies – and certainly the vast and dangerous territory west of the Mississippi River – wouldn’t have been tamed without firearms. Can you imagine the Lewis and Clark expedition without guns? And of course, firearms were vital to both law and order as well as self-defense for vulnerable citizens along America’s unruly frontier.

It is also well known that American cultural facility with firearms has repeatedly contributed to the effectiveness of our military. Generations of citizen-soldiers like Alvin York and Carlos Hathcock were experienced marksmen before they joined the ranks. Additionally, it is only common sense that any foreign power would think twice before invading a nation of armed citizens.

In looking back on the role of arms in America – including privately kept arms in the hands of everyday citizens – one is pressed to ask: “Why would any of this be considered antiquated or obsolete now?”

In response to that question, we have to acknowledge several truths. First, there is no life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness without the right to self-defense – full-stop. Second, we still expect at least some percentage of our public to serve in the military, including in state militias. Third, we still have the same Constitution, and the principles codified in that document have not changed.

Finally, being candid about power and government (which our Founders certainly were) means there will always be a need for the people to have a fighting chance against tyranny. While this last argument might be uncomfortable to some, if we are being honest with ourselves, we cannot forget the role of gun control in keeping some citizens from being truly free.

Put another way, we cannot discount the role that firearms could have played in giving those people a chance at freedom. The fact that gun control ordinances in the Jim Crow South existed for the purpose of oppressing black Americans proves the point.

Those who know our history and who understand the importance of the Second Amendment and its central importance to our founding and freedom know much of this. Conversely, those who hold a degree of prejudice against the Second Amendment – or who are more sympathetic to gun control ideas and perhaps frightened of the notion of an armed and independent public – often marginalize the importance of the Second Amendment to everything we cherish as a free people.

So, this Independence Day, remember that without firearms or a citizenry willing to arm itself, we probably wouldn’t be celebrating very much. Have a splendid and dazzling 250th!

Connor Martin is a U.S. Marine and covers national policy issues.