A “WHAT-IF” SCENARIO –
BAN ALL BIBLES (GUNS)?
By:
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A ‘What If’ Scenario
I would ask you to imagine:
First: What if Congress were to pass a Law which placed an excise tax upon
certain kinds of Bibles (such as the King James), and required you to purchase
a $200.00 ‘Stamp’ from the government in order to legally own and
possess one; and carried a Felony Conviction with a Five year prison sentence
as punishment to those who failed to comply? (Would this not be a Violation of
Our First Amendment Rights to Freedom of Religion and Free Speech?)
Second: Next, imagine that Congress then imposes more restrictions; such as
that every type of Bible being published must be numbered, and every Bible sale
recorded on a specialized federal form by a federally licensed Bible dealer.
Third: Further, imagine Congress then passes a law prohibiting the manufacture
and sale of any NEW Bibles to the Public which were covered under the first act
(ie - King James).
Fourth: Then Imagine, that in order to purchase any Bible, you had to pass a
background check, and be recorded into a database.
Last: Finally, imagine that they passed a law regulating how Bibles could
look, and what they could contain.
On top of all this, imagine
endless Legislation being introduced to require registration of Bibles, waiting
periods for purchases of Bibles, and 30 day waiting periods between purchases
of Bibles. Legislation to end the so-called ‘Bible Show
Loophole’ (Prayer Meetings where private Citizens sell and exchange
Legally Owned Bibles). Finally, imagine endless Lawsuits without
foundation being filed against Legal Bible Publishing Companies. Lawsuits, which try to blame the Publishing Companies for the
actions of their customers, or subsequent Bible owners.
What if the ‘Bible Banners’ asserted that the First
Amendment Right to Free Speech in no way covered a ‘Right to Read’?
And that while we may enjoy the First Amendment Right to the Free Exercise of
Religion, the government clearly had the authority to ban any Religious
material they found could potentially be hazardous to the ‘Public Health
or Safety’. Does this scenario sound Totally
Ridiculous? Is it Ludicrous to put forth such a scenario? This could Never happen, you say?
A ‘What
If’ Scenario Come To Life!
Well, this is exactly what the government has done to our Second
Amendment Rights!
First: The
government passed the ‘National Firearms Act’ of 1934; which
imposed an excise tax on the purchase of any Firearm considered to be fully
automatic or below a certain barrel length! Wait a minute. Does not
Second: Next, the
government passed the ‘Gun Control Act’ of 1968, which required
among other things that serial numbers appear on all Firearms, and the
purchaser of any Firearm fill out a
federal form prior to sale, which then must be kept by the federally licensed
dealer. It also established categories of prohibited firearms purchasers, and
prohibited the mail-order sale of all firearms.
Third: The
government then passed the ridiculously named ‘Firearms Owners'
Protection Act’ of 1986, which forever banned to Civilians the
Manufacture and Sale of any New Automatic Firearms.
Fourth: The
government passed the ‘Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act’ of
1994, which required that any one who wishes to purchase any firearm must first
pass an FBI ‘Instant’ Criminal Background Check. While the act
calls for the immediate destruction of any record of the ‘Instant’
check, the government continues to collect these in a database.
Last: The
government passed the ‘Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act’ of 1994, otherwise known as the Assault Weapons Ban. This act
instantly outlawed many of the Semi Automatic Versions of the Military Firearms
that the ‘National Firearms Act’ of 1934 had prohibited! It also
made it a Felony to place one or more prohibited pieces of cosmetic plastic or
metal on certain Firearms.
On top of all this, we continue to see
endless Legislation being introduced in Congress to require registration of
Firearms, waiting periods for the purchase of Firearms, and waiting periods
between purchases of Firearms. There is Legislation to end the so-called
‘Gun Show Loophole’ (Gatherings where Private Citizens go to buy,
sell, and exchange Legally Owned Firearms). Then there
are the baseless Lawsuits being filed against Legal Firearms Manufacturing
Companies continue. Lawsuits, which try to blame the Firearms
Manufacturers for the actions of their customers, or subsequent Firearms
owners.
Finally, we have the ‘Gun
Banners’, who assert that the Second Amendment Right to ‘Keep and
Bear Arms’ in no way covers an ‘Individual Citizen’? And that
even if we did enjoy a Second Amendment Right to ‘Keep and Bear
Arms’, the government clearly has the authority to regulate, restrict, or
ban any Firearms they find to be potentially hazardous to the ‘Public
Health or Safety’.
There you go! My ridiculous assertions
about “What if Congress outlawed Bibles ”
now come to life, showing precisely what they have done to Our Second
Amendment! You might say that there is a difference between Bibles and Guns:
“Guns are dangerous and Bibles aren’t”. Even if that
mattered, That is not the point! We are talking about
Two Constitutionally Protected Rights! And the Second Amendment even contains
the Admonishment to government “Shall Not Be Infringed”!
I would ask my fellow Americans, Where
is the Outrage?
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