Our freedom as Americans to possess and use firearms is guaranteed in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment states that “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Long before America became a nation, English kings would from time to time disarm people in England considered to be their opponents. The Englishmen who were historically impacted by these actions eventually won assurances from English royalty that they would never again be disarmed by the Crown. By the time of the founding of America, the individual right to bear arms had become fundamental to English subjects. However, in the years before the American Revolution, George III had begun to disarm American colonists in areas he considered to be the most rebellious. As in England previously, military forces were used to carry out the disarmament of individuals.

At the time the founders in the First Congress debated the right to bear arms and its inclusion in the Bill of Rights, there was widespread fear among those skeptical of the new federal government that it would disarm the people of this country and impose rule through standing forces or select militia. To help secure the ideal of citizen militias, which would oppose oppression on the part of military forces dispatched by a tyrannical central government, the founders included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment recognizes and protects the long existing right of individuals to keep and bear arms.

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, affirmed each American’s personal right to keep and bear arms as set forth in the Second Amendment. The case, however, was decided on a 5-4 vote. If President Obama has an opportunity to replace one of the five justices comprising the Heller majority, our Second Amendment rights could very well be in jeopardy. Should Heller be revered by a liberal U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, various states, and the District of Columbia would be free to severely restrict or prohibit gun ownership or possession of guns. Recent history in Europe and in other nations around the world has shown that where gun rights are restricted, other individual freedoms are often diminished.

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004. This law prohibited the sale of ammunition clips with more than 10 rounds and banned 19 types of semi-automatic weapons. Shortly after the ban expired, Congressional liberals attempted unsuccessfully to reauthorize this law. Now, Attorney General Eric Holder, emboldened by the Democratic majority in Congress, is trying once again to reinstate this ban on our right as Americans to purchase guns of our choice. There are also proposals in Congress to require mandatory federal gun registration and to tax or impose fees on gun owners based on the firearms they possess.

We need conservative fighters in Congress who will ensure that our Second Amendment rights are fully protected and that no federal firearm registration or taxation bills become law. Our nation’s founders understood that ownership of arms is fundamental to our freedom as American citizens. This is a right that cannot be surrendered. As an owner of guns and one who is determined to support and defend our Constitution, I’m ready to join the fight to preserve this basic right in the halls of the United States Congress.