to send a message to those who claim to represent me:
President Barack Obama (D)
Senator Joe Manchin III (D-WV)
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV)
Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV 2nd)
Here's what I had to say:
Greetings,
In the wake of a tragic event, such as the senseless murders in Newtown, CT, the motivation to "do something" is of noble intent. However, legislation that comes about in response to a particular event, as opposed to a set of core principles, almost universally turns out badly for everyone. In the need to do "something" government often does the wrong thing.
The legislation that Senator Dianne Feinstein is eager to propose is a textbook example of doing the wrong thing; it is a very wrong thing indeed. I won't waste my time trying to school you in history, the US Constitution or the Second Amendment. If I had confidence that our representatives in Washington understood them, and intended to honor their oath of office, there would be no need for me to engage in correspondence with you on this topic.
Senator Feinstein is an enemy of the Constitution. Those who support her in this "assault weapons" ban are accessories in her treasonous actions. The right of the people to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT be infringed, yet Senator Feinstein means to do exactly that. To say that I "strongly oppose" these attempts to infringe upon the rights of the people would be a gross understatement. You once took an oath that went something like this:
"I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God."
Do you remember raising your right hand and uttering those words? Did you mean them, or were you simply mouthing meaningless syllables as a mere formality incidental to assuming the public trust being invested in you? Now is the time to prove that you mean what you say.
Words mean nothing without the kind of conviction behind them that leads to principled action. Something that all of you in Washington need to understand is that we are citizens of this republic; we are not your subjects. I also took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I would rather die on my feet as a free man, in defense of liberty, than to live on my knees as a slave.
As our representatives in Washington continue to build a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these United States, you slowly awaken a sleeping giant. The American people will not continue to tolerate the abridgment of our natural rights. I strongly encourage you to stand with me in defense of our Constitution, by opposing any such legislation.
I intend to keep the oath that I took. Do you?
In Defense of Liberty,
Raymond Campbell
© the stiff lizard
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