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I'll bet that when you were in school you learned about a guy named Paul Revere who rode around the countryside shouting, "the Redcoats are coming." Do you recall why those Redcoats were coming? Unfortunately, most Americans have forgotten the purpose of Paul Revere's midnight ride.

In the early morning hours of April 19, 1775, approximately 700 of King George's British regulars-Redcoats, as they were called by the colonists-under the orders of General Thomas Gage, British Military Governor of Massachusetts, marched out of Boston. Gage hoped to surprise the colonists at Concord and seize the guns and ammunition they had stored for their personal and community defense. Warned by Paul Revere and refusing to bow to tyranny, the minuteman colonists took up their arms, formed themselves into a militia, and fired the shots heard round the world at the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Following many years of bloody revolutionary war, fought to secure our freedom, the members of the Constitutional Convention remembered the attempt by King George to deprive those patriots of their God given right to self-defense. Before the ink was dry on the Constitution, the framers added a Bill of Rights in the form of ten amendments. The first of those amendments guaranteed free speech and freedom of religion. The Second Amendment ensured that each American would have the wherewithal to prevent a future tyrant from usurping the First Amendment.

In June of 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a clear decision that the right to keep and bear arms as stated in the Second Amendment is the individual right of every American and "shall not be infringed."

As I write this, there are powerful forces at work seeking ways to prevent you from exercising your right to keep and bear arms. Liberal anti-Second Amendment politicians who control both houses of congress have an advocate in the White House who is eager to "infringe." Eric Holder, Barack Obama's Attorney General has chillingly stated in a news conference that it is the intent of this president to ban many weapons that in the opinion of Eric Holder and the Obama administration are inappropriate for use by American citizens.

What is most frightening is that many of the guns so designated by Eric Holder and the Obama administration are very likely weapons that you, a family member, or a friend keep and use. You, or someone you know, may become a criminal without doing a thing.

The left wing politicians were so anxious to get the anti-Second Amendment ball rolling in congress that Representative Bobby L. Rush, (D, Ill.) a former Black Panther and one of President Obama's cronies from Chicago jumped the gun. He introduced H.R. 45 (Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009) on January 6, 2009 before Obama was even inaugurated. I urge you to read this legislation and decide for yourself what you think this will do to your Constitutional rights. Decide for yourself if you would accept this sort of restriction on your right to free speech. If the Obama administration can put these H.R. 45 restrictions on your Second Amendment right, I am forced to ask if the definition of the word right under the Obama regime is going to become as nebulous as the word "is," is.

In the event that "we the people" actually stand up and object to this direct legislative usurpation of our Second Amendment, the liberal congressional leadership is pursuing more subtle ways to "infringe" your rights. The major bludgeon will be taxation; a concept not unfamiliar to the progressives. Look for legislation that will place draconian taxes on things related to the firearms industry, especially ammunition. Additionally, Obama is using his power of executive order to ban imports of ammunition, thereby making the ownership of your gun a hollow right with no means of utilization.

The patriots at Lexington and Concord recognized that keeping those guns and ammunition would be easier than getting them back from King George. You have two senators and one representative in congress. Under our republican form of government, those three people are sworn to "protect and defend the Constitution," for you.

To their discredit, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are leading a congressional majority of reprehensible politicians who put their self-interest ahead of the Constitution, and "we the people." Call your senators and your representative and tell them that you do not want your Constitution trashed by ideological legislation. Call your president and tell him that he is sworn to protect and defend the Constitution and that violating your rights by executive fiat violates that oath.

In April of 1775 many brave human beings with nothing more than a dream of the pursuit of happiness left their plows, mills, stores, and forges to stand against tyranny. Had Paul Revere failed on his midnight ride; had General Gage been successful in his surprise attack; had those colonists lost their weapons to the confiscatory policies of the tyrannical government, we would be singing God Save the Queen instead of The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl of cricket.

It is not too late. You can come to the village green by way of letters and phone calls to your senators, representative and the president. Your pen and telephone can be your musket. You have an obligation to your children and their children to write that letter or pick up that phone and make the call. The Redcoats are coming!

Bob Faulkner

It's time the east and west coast heard what the heartland has to say. Even if you don't carry a gun or would ever think of carrying one, it's our right and we need to stop Obama from taking it away. Think about this as the election in 2010 nears.

Jackie Taylor

Linn County News publisher

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