Constitutional Right Of Self-Defense Historically- Part Two:  Tune in today for the second part of our three-part series on the Second Amendment and the right of self-defense. We will be discussing the historical and constitutional perspective on the Second Amendment. Listen now to learn more about what the Founders had to say about our right of self-defense, learn how our right to protect ourselves and our right to vote are both protected throughout the Constitution, learn how the Constitution has been twisted in recent times, and more!

Air Date: 08/16/2018

Guest: The Green Family

On-air Personalities: Rick Green 

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we talk about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. Always from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

You can find out more at WallBuilderLive.com and WallBuilders.com. And today, we’re actually picking up where we left off yesterday with a presentation by the Green family on the constitutional right of self-defense, the history of the Second Amendment, what the founders intended by that. And really going to dig deep today, so if you missed yesterday be sure to go to WallBuildersLive.com and you can listen to the first program.

Today we’re right smack dab in the middle and then tomorrow we’ll close it up. So, it”€™s a three day series on the constitutional right of self-defense. We’re going to pick up right where we left off yesterday. Here we are, the Green family at Front Sight in Nevada teaching on the Second Amendment.

Rick:

So, I”€™m going to get some help from Reagan Green. He”€™s the one that * at 14 and he was supposed to * at a young age. It”€™s because he’s been teaching on the Second Amendment for a few years. So, y”€™all welcome Reagan Green.

Reagan Green:

Alright, guys, real quick before I jump into the Second Amendment I would just like to say “€œthank you”€ to Front Sight Administrative staff and Dr. Piazza for this incredible opportunity to not just do a class here, but be able to film it and hopefully bring more people to these classes in the future.

So, with that said let’s jump right into this. We’re going to start off with a guy named Richard Henry Lee. Richard Henry Lee was the founding father in the Continental Congress that actually made the motion for America’s independence on June 7th 1776.

Arms To Preserve Liberty

Reagan Green:

Now, Lee once said that in order to preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of all people possess arms and be taught how to use them, especially when young. Now, that right there might help to explain why John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States, was out with the Massachusetts Minutemen. What he was doing? Musket drills. Guess how old he was? Eight years old. That’s incredible.

Does anybody here have a son roughly around 8-10 years old. What’s your son’s name? Kaidan? Okay, so picture Kaidan out doing range drills with a SEAL team today. That’s like John Quincy Adams doing musket drills with the Minutemen at eight years old. That is just plain awesome. But let’s look here again at what Ritchard Henry Lee said, “€œThat in order to preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of all people possess arms and be taught how to use them, especially when young. Guys, nobody on the planet is doing that better than right here at Front Sight Training Institute.

But let’s just go ahead and let’s take a step back here and let’s actually look at the Second Amendment itself. Here’s what it says, “€œA 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.”€

Some people can get a little confused about this word militia, but if you just transport yourself back to the founding era it is clear. This word militia basically meant every man that could fire a rifle. So, this freedom here, it wasn’t a foreign official military, it was for the militia, or the people. That’s why it says “€œthe right of the people”€ not “€œthe right of the U.S. military.”€

The Bottom Line

Reagan Green:

So, guys here’s the bottom line. Even if you don’t enjoy hunting, or guns, or self-defense training, as much as my family– but, hey, you’re here at Front Sight, so of course you do, right? But there might be some people who are watching this on TV or DVD and they might say, “€œGosh, you know what? I just don’t have as much of a passion for self defense training as you guys.”€ Here’s my message to you – you would still be wise to do everything that you can to help protect the rights of families like ours. Because while I hope it never happens, there might come a day when we need to use these guns and this training that we’re getting here Front Sight to help protect you and all of your rights. Alright, that was my * to preach there, that’s over, we”€™re moving on.

One last thing, guys, and then I’m going to jump off here and hand it back off to my dad. We all understand the importance of living out the Second Amendment. But can somebody here give me an example of something you can do to not just live out the Second Amendment, but also protect the Second Amendment? Somebody just shout out an answer, help me out.

Unknown:

Votes.

Reagan Green:

Yes.

Unknown:

Educate yourself.

Become Students of History

Reagan Green:

Absolutely. Those are all great answers, guys. And on top of those, like Missy just said, I want to encourage you to become students of history. Continue to educate yourself. Continue learning about the Constitution like you are in this class. And then take this information home and send people to future classes here – send friends, send family. And then further your training and further building your knowledge of the Constitution. Speaking of the Constitution, it”€™s now time for me to hand it back off to the man that first taught me how to be a sheep dog and not a sheep. Y”€™all welcome back my dad, Rick Green.

Rick:

Since you mentioned voting, I heard several people over here say voting, we did not let them know that was what they were supposed to say. Great job – you fed right into the next part of our presentation because you do. You have to vote, you”€™ve got to pay attention. I know sometimes you go, “€œThere’s nobody good to vote for, there’s no perfect candidate.”€ Can I just tell you something? There’s never going to be a perfect candidate. And I”€™ll just tell you that I have yet to find a candidate I agree with a hundred percent of the time. I don’t even agree with myself a hundred percent of the time. How am I going to find somebody out there?

There’s never going to be a perfect candidate, so you do the best you can with what you”€™ve got, where you are, and then you work hard to have better candidates next time. But we want to be engaged and involved every time. So, that right to vote is extremely important to help us understand where that’s protected in the Constitution for every one of us. And why it’s so important to do that in order to have the right to defend ourselves. Please welcome my baby girl who’s been making those head shots since she was 12 years, old by the way. Cameron Green.

Protection For Our Right To Vote

Cameron Green:

Alright, guys, I am so excited to share this message with you all. I just want to start off by saying thank you for being here. I truly hope that when you leave this place this weekend you are fired up to defend your family and your freedom.

So, I’m going to get started by explaining the Four Amendments to our Constitution that actually protect our right to vote. Y”€™all already? Yeah? Heck, yeah!

So the 15th Amendment protects our right to vote no matter the color of our skin. Secondly, the 26th Amendment says you must be at least 18 years old to vote.  That means I’ve got one more year to go – woohoo! Amendment 24 protects your right to vote whether you’re rich or you’re poor. Now, lastly, this is actually my personal favorite, it”€™s the 19th Amendment. This guarantees that we ladies have the same rights as the guys when choosing our leaders.

Crowd:

Woohoo!

Cameron Green:

Exactly. Now, speaking of the lady’s right to vote, I’d also like to point out the importance of the ladies”€™ Second Amendment right to defend. My brother, Reagan, he shared a little bit about the history of the Second Amendment and I’m always so glad to see men learning to use this right to defend their families. But if I could just emphasize that for us ladies this right is sometimes even more critical. Because if we are ever caught in a bad situation a firearm is often the equalizer for us.

Now, I hope that you are never in a bad situation where you have to use your firearm. But I hope even more that you are never in a bad situation where you don’t even have a firearm. So, I just want to encourage all the ladies out – there whatever your age, come to Front Sight, get yourself trained, and learn to defend yourself. It’ll be worth it. Because of this, whether we like it or not, we must consider the single inevitable that there is evil in the world.

That Leaves Us With Two Choices

Cameron Green:

And that leaves each of us with two choices. The one we make will determine our grit in the battle. Will we sit down? Or will we rise up? Will we cower in the corner? Or will we stand in defense of the defenseless? Will we allow the unfortunate results of apathy and ignorance to rest upon us when the battle calls because we have no idea how to use our weapons? Because they feel uncomfortable in our hands – unused and unfamiliar – though they were given for a purpose?

Or will we fight? Will we train for the task at hand preparing for the day that evil knocks on our door? But the evil doer is shocked to find that we are ready, willing, and able, to use our weapons. Because we trained, because we knew we were strong, because we knew that there was a reason and a purpose to defend what was right. It’s not just a fight. It’s not just to fire a weapon. Much better for all if the evil doers just stays away.

But it is so we are not caught off guard when the fight comes because it is our right, our responsibility, our duty, to defend. This is about so much more than just becoming a great shot. It really is. It”€™s more than just becomin”€™ freakin”€™ awesome with a gun and being able to put two in the thoracic cavity in 1.5 seconds, one in the cranio ocular if there is a failure to stop. Okay, be honest, does anybody else feel super cool and they use these terms? Because I do. Thank you Dr. Piazza.

Being able to do all of that is awesome. Really impressive. But there is more. There’s a much deeper meaning to all of this because this is a just cause. We’re giving these hands to fight. These weapons to train our fingers with because there’s something that must be defended. Life is worth defending. Your life, your family, they are worth defending. And if we do not pick up our arms, then who will defend them? Who will defend the ones who haven’t yet learned to fight that evil has targeted?

Now, some of my friends back home will say, but God is the avenger. He will protect us. Yes, God is a judge to the unjust, a defender for the innocent and the defenseless. But sometimes, sometimes, He provides this defense through us. So, we must learn to defend. Because life is precious. And it must be protected.

Will We Sit On the Sidelines?

Cameron Green:

So, my question for all of us tonight is – will we sit on the sidelines when we’re needed most? Will we sit down? And I don’t say all this to scare you. I say this to awaken you, to awaken the fighter in you, the defender in you. And the fact that you’re here tonight, it already tells me you’re ready, you’re willing, and you’re able. And that’s why I’m so thankful that you’re here training to defend your families and those around you.

But you’re also here to learn how to train, to train to defend your rights and our Constitution. Because of this, our right to protect ourselves and our right to vote are both protected throughout the Constitution. So I beg you – do not waste these rights, but every chance that you get to vote let your voice be heard and your values counted. And every chance that you get to train, you train hard. Be like the sniper played in Saving Private Ryan where he would say, “€œBlessed be the Lord, my strength, who teaches my hands for war and my fingers to fight.”€

So learn, train, and fight. It’s a worthy cause. Make the most of this weekend, guys. God bless you all. Dad–

Rick:

You can maybe tell us why we used to call them the Queen and her subjects.

Alright, it’s a good time to jump in here and take a quick break. Stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live. That”€™s a live presentation we were doing out at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute out in *, Nevada a few months back. And it’s on the Second Amendment and the foundations of America. We’ll be back with more right here on WallBuilders Live.

Join WallBuilders In Israel!

Rick:

Hey Friends! Rick Green here from WallBuilders Live. The WallBuilders team is going to Israel and we’d love to have you go with us. It”€™s going to be January 28 through February 7th, a Holy Land tour that is the experience of a lifetime.

Just imagine sailing on the Sea of Galilee. Imagine going to the Elah Valley where David slew Goliath and even picking up pebbles from the very brook where he picked up those stones to slay Goliath. We’re going to go to Jericho, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the pool of Bethesda, and so much more. And you can go with us.

David and Tim Barton, and myself, Rick Green, you”€™ll just have a great time. The Fellowship’s going to be phenomenal and the Bible is going to come to life right before your eyes. Join us January 28th through February 7th, 2019. But you need to get in and make your reservations now. Check it out at WallBuildersLive.com for this very special trip to the Holy Land.

Rick:

So, look, she’s exactly right. There’s so much about this that is a just cause and is absolutely necessary. And I do want to speak a little bit to the ladies because too often in our country our government disarms people that need that defense the most.

Right here in Nevada there’s the story of Amanda Collins. This happened right here in Nevada. And it was at, I think, University of Nevada and she literally had her concealed weapons permit, she could have defended herself if the government had not disarmed her, but she was raped brutally in the parking garage literally in sight of the police cruisers and the police office that was there in that parking garage. She said, “€œIf I had been allowed to carry my weapon on campus I could have stopped this guy.”€

He raped and murdered others after that and was finally caught and convicted. Horrible story, but a reminder that instead of government doing what it’s supposed to do – protect our rights – too often, government is preventing us from living out our rights and putting people in danger just like Amanda Collins.

If you heard what Ret said in his, he was talking about the fact that to secure these rights Governments are instituted among men. So, what’s the purpose of government? To protect our rights. Not to take them away, not to prevent us from being able to use them like what happened to Amanda. That’s why this is so important for us not only to train, to come here and get physically equipped and able to live out the Second Amendment, but also to understand the Second Amendment so that when we see it under attack we can defend and protect it.

Let”€™s Look At Some of the Twisting

Rick:

So let’s go back to what Reagan was saying – well regulated militia. Now, if you read the Second Amendment carefully it would be great, I mean, I wish there was something very, very, clear in the Second Amendment that this was the right of the people, not just like the military or something like that. It’s too bad that they did body language in there that was very, very, clear. But wait a minute, they did. How do we miss this? See, people like to take the Constitution and try to make it so confusing, and so difficult to understand. It’s very simple. The Founding Fathers understood that, they made it simple for us, they made it easy to understand. The problem is it has been twisted over time.

So, let me give you some of the twisting that has taken place over the last 15-20 years in our culture. When Clinton and Gore were in office they loved running around the country and saying, “€œSupport our gun control measures. Don’t worry, bubba, we’re not going to take away your shotgun.”€ That was their big monster, “€œOh, you’re still going to be able to hunt.”€

Folks, the second if you listen to those guys, you listen to the people that constantly use that excuse, “€œWe’re going to take away your this, or your that, but you’re going to be able to hunt.”€ It’s almost as if they think the Second Amendment says, “€œA well regulated pheasant hunt, being necessary to the security of Duck Dynasty. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”€ But that’s not what it says right? It doesn’t have anything to do with pheasants. It has everything to do with freedom – not pheasants and not hunting. It’s about protecting ourselves.

The Mantra Out There

Rick:

But, of course, they get it backwards. They tell us that we don’t even have an individual right to bear arms in the Bill of Rights. That the law abiding citizens, law abiding Americans, have no unconditional right to firearms access. The idea that the Bill of Rights guarantees each individual a right to own a gun is a constitutional illusion they tell us. That the sale manufacture and possession of handguns ought to be banned, banned, I’m telling you. We do not believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep them. The Austin Un-American Statesman says there is no constitutional guarantee for private ownership of firearms.

Now, this is the mantra out there and it is growing right now because of this response to the school shootings. Why does this even matter? Why does it matter whether it’s an individual right, or a group right, or a law of nature that is yours, or something else, why does it even matter? And the reason it matters, friends, is because there is evil in the world.

And the question is not whether or not evil exists and whether or not it will be used to perpetrate crime. The question is, how do we respond to that evil when it occurs? How do we reduce the level of school shootings and other crimes that happen in our country? What do we do when the wolf is at the door? The real question is how do you best deter and minimize that evil? How do we respond whenever it turns into criminal violence? I know some people out there say they just– “€œGet rid of the guns. It’s the gun culture. It is the fact that there’s too many guns available.”€ Somehow an inanimate object is causing these things to happen.

And you have these guys like Bob Costas that get on television and say, “€œThe problem is the gun. If we just get the gun out of the equation it wouldn’t have any effect.”€ In fact, he said brilliant things like this, “€œIt’s a gun culture that almost always leads to tragedy rather than safety. Far too often bad things happen then things where the presence of a gun diminishes or averts danger.”€ He even said, “€œI cannot think of a single instance involving a professional athlete whereby that athlete having a gun averted or diminished a dangerous situation.”€

Not Even a Single Instance?

Rick:

Not even a single instance? I can throw a rock from my house to multiple instances including Colt McCoy when he was the quarterback at the University of Texas before he was a professional quarterback. Where a crazy stalker came to his house and he had to use * brandish a weapon in order to stop this guy that had a gun from perpetrating a crime on Colt and his roommates. We see it in the– well, not in the news. If you really dig hard you can get the stories of a good guy with a gun stopping a bad guy with a gun over, and over, and over, again.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Maryland School shooting that the media doesn’t want to talk about because instead of this guy able to go and kill as many as he wanted he was stopped by the good guy with a gun – the resource officer that was there. We see that happen and of course, if you read the studies, John Lott”€™s got a great– Professor Lott, did a whole study on how guns are used five times as often to stop a crime as they are used to commit a crime. So, that means, statistically, every time you take a weapon off the street you actually you might be stopping one, but now you’re allowing five others to actually take place.

So, the data backs this up. And, of course, the anecdotal evidence. Even the Sutherland Springs incident that happened right there in Texas. The bad guy with the gun was stopped by Steven Willeford, the good guy with a gun and NRA instructor using what kind of weapon – an AR15 – to stop the bad guy with the gun. I loved watching the few interviews that this guy did. How humble he was. In fact, here”€™s what he said, he said, “€œI’m no hero. I’m not. I thank my God, my Lord, protected me and gave me the skills to do what needed to be done. I just wish I could have gotten there faster.”€

You know  what former Vice President Joe Biden– I love saying “€œformer”€ when I say that, by the way– what former Vice President Joe Biden said about it? He said he shouldn’t have been allowed to have had that weapon to stop that crime. So, let’s use that logic– so, he shouldn’t have been allowed to have the weapons so that the crazy guy could take his massive arsenal that he had and go to the next church where he was headed to do the same thing that he had done to the First Church at Sutherland Springs. That’s the logic of these people that want to blame it on the inanimate object.

Let”€™s Talk About the Inanimate Object

Rick:

Now, the inanimate object, we’ve got, I”€™m not going to say how many AR15s, we’ve got a few of those. And, frankly, I think my wife looks quite hot when she’s shooting her a AR15. But, umm– It makes me nervous when guys in here are clapping to me saying my wife is hot with her AR15.

Let me tell the rest the story– so, we decided to test this theory that it’s the AR15 is the problem. I took my AR15, put it on the couch, and pointed it outside, and I ordered it, I said, “€œAnybody walks up our driveway you shoot.”€ And I sat back and it didn’t– I just watched all day long multiple people walked up our driveway and my AR15 must be the most dysfunctional, disobedient, AR15 on the planet – didn’t do a thing.

Now, friends, I could take out my 45 and lay it down here and we could all stand around it and hold hands and chant the rest of the night, but the gun is not going to shoot anybody, right? It’s an inanimate object. We know this, history teaches us this, but now of course we’ve got this movement that’s going.

And we see Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Wal-Mart, and these others, saying they’re going to change and they’re actually going to restrict who they sell weapons to. And, look, I’m a free enterprise guy, hey, that’s their choice. If they choose to sell to certain people and not to other people, that’s a private entity, that is not government, it’s perfectly fine. It’s a little confusing to me, so I actually put this meme on Facebook wondering about it – if Dick”€™s and Wal-Mart can choose who they sell their goods to based on personal belief, why can’t Christian bakers and florists do the same thing? I’m just–

We Could Spend All Night Going Through the Stats

Rick:

It”€™s kind of one of those things that makes you go, “€œHmmm, I don’t know.”€ But that’s where we are. So, look, there’s no doubt – the gun itself is not the problem. And we could spend all night going through all the stats and the other things that far more people are killed with and by than even a firearm. I’m preaching to the choir here tonight, obviously, but there’s no doubt that it’s not the inanimate object. And of course, you know this, right, guns don’t kill people. It”€™s not people * Chuck Norris kills people is other half of that is typically the– he’s a good Texan, so we tend to give him most of the credit on that.

The problem Chuck Norris is he supported me and my Supreme Court race and if he’s got your phone number this is what it looks like when he calls – it”€™s just answer, answer, there is no deny. There is no denying there is no denying Chuck. So that’s a bit of a problem. But no, no, no, of course it’s not, Chuck, you’ve got it right. People don”€™t– guns don”€™t kill people – people kill people.

The problem is if you take away the guns, what happens? We’ll find something else, right. The exact same day that Sandy Hook happened, the exact same day, in China a crazy guy takes a sword and a knife and goes into a school, kills and maims almost the same number of kids as what happened at Sandy Hook. Anybody read the news lately on London? London Mayor declares intense new knife control policies to stop epidemics. I love you read the article and at the end of the article says, “€œWe’re not sure yet what they’re going to use to cut their food now, but they’re going to make sure that they limit–“€

Look, we get rid of the guns, we use knives. We get rid of the knives, we use rocks. What is the terrorist weapon of choice right now? A car or a truck, right. Big semi truck – that’s the terrorist– I don’t see any calls for car control and whatever the next call might be. It is not the inanimate object.

I love the response of one of these sheriffs in Florida to all this. He”€™s got this deal called the Sentinel Program. He said there’s gun control on every campus in Florida. And I would submit across the United States that you can’t bring a gun on campus. And no one does except for the crazy person, the active shooter. There has to be a line of defense. So,  what they’re doing is they’re deputizing teachers, and getting them trained, and getting them armed. Something Dr. Piazza has been calling for for years and still offers to train teachers for free that want to come out here to Front Sight for that very reason – so that you have good guys and gals with guns at the schools to stop the bad guys.

Crazy, Crazy, Examples

Rick:

Now, let me talk a little bit about why it’s so important for us to get the basic concept down – not just the logic. Tim Barton, who’s with us tonight, and I do a radio program called WallBuilders Live and we’ve had some crazy, crazy, examples over the years of things that have happened in response to some of these school shootings. Where kids are literally getting kicked out of school, suspended, over things like this kid – 7 year old suspended because he bit his pop tart into a gun shape. There’s a rash of pop tart shootings across the country, I guess. A Maryland first grader suspended for making a gun gesture with his hand.

We had the toy gun, you know the bubble guns, that blow bubbles, that literally the police showed up at a house as a result of it. Just a couple of weeks ago a social worker was fired just because on Facebook she talked about the fact she had a concealed carry permit. Never had a gun with her at work. Still fired. We’ve all seen the protests, and the walkouts, and the calls, and all of these things. Now, we’ve got a former Supreme Court justice actually saying, “€œYes, let’s repeal the Second Amendment, actually get rid of it.”€

So, folks, we’re reaching a dire moment in our history where we can’t combat this just by saying, “€œYou guys are crazy.”€ There’s a lot of people in positions of power that want to get rid of the Second Amendment, that want to infringe upon your right to keep and bear arms. So, let’s go back in history and look at what these guys actually said. Let’s find out what the founders actually intended by the Second Amendment.

Hearing From the Founders

Rick:

So, real quick, let me fly through some of these original proposals when they were debating the bill of rights. New Hampshire had a proposal, they said, “€œCongress shall never disarm any citizen.”€ This one from Massachusetts, “€œThat the said Constitution be never construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”€ Pennsylvania, “€œNo law shall be passed for disarming the people or any of them.”€

Here’s some constitutional commentaries early on – Zephaniah Swift, he was author of America’s first legal text. He said, “€œSelf-defense, or self preservation, is one of the first laws of nature–“€ again, so first laws of nature “€œ–which no man ever resigned upon entering into society.”€ So, in other words, when you decide to be a part of a culture, or you’re part of a society, and say, “€œI”€™m going to follow the law”€, you don’t give up your right to defend yourself and to defend your family.

Constitutional Right Of Self-Defense Historically

Rick:

Once again, out of time, folks. We”€™re going had to pick up tomorrow right where we’re leaving off today. If you joined us today in the middle of this three part series it’s available at our website, WallBuildersLive.com. It’s the Green family presenting on the constitutional right of self-defense. And tomorrow we’ll get the final part of this three part series. It’s a teaching we did out at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute in *, Nevada. And it’s all about what the foundational system of a Second Amendment self-defense right is based upon.

And you, obviously, heard me giving several quotes from founding fathers there. We’ll pick up with those tomorrow. And then talk about application and how you and I can defend and protect this constitutional republic.

Thanks for listening today to WallBuilders Live.