(Part 1 of 3: I apologize for the length but believe this is worth your attention)
This is the best speech on liberty and freedom I've seen in years. Surprisingly, it comes from a California State Senator (District 19)—Tom McClintock—discussing California Senate SB52 (2001).
Here is a good description of SB52 from the Brady Campaign:
[quote www.bradycampaign.org/about/press/release.asp?Record=300 ]
Comparing AB 35 (Shelley) and SB 52 (Scott):
• Handgun Control is sponsoring both bills.
• Both bills have the same core elements. Future handgun buyers must pass a written test and a hands-on firing demonstration with state-certified safety instructors. Handgun buyers must also present local law enforcement with proof of identity and state residency and provide a thumbprint. Neither bill includes handgun registration.
• AB 35 is a "certificate" while SB 52 is a "license." AB 35 expands the current Basic Firearms Safety Certificate (BFSC) system while SB 52 replaces the current BFSC with a handgun license system for future handgun buyers.
• The bills have similar fee structures, are valid for five years and may be renewed by simply retaking the written test.
[end quote]
Senator McClintock's speech is long; however, it is the voice of Liberty crying in the (California) wilderness. I ask you, please, take a few minutes and carefully read this man's speech.
Senator Tom McClintock:
[quote republican.sen.ca.gov/web/mcclintock/article_detail.asp?PID=189 ]
A Speech by Senator Tom McClintock
Western CPAC Conference, Los Angeles, June 9, 2001
There are two modern views of government that begin from entirely different premises.
There is the 18th Century American view propounded by our nation’s founders. They believed, and formed a government based upon that belief, that each of us is endowed by our creator with certain rights that cannot be alienated, and that governments are instituted to protect those rights. This view is proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and reflected in the American Bill of Rights.
The second view is 19th Century German in origin and expressed in the philosophies of Marx and Hegel and Nietzsche. It is a restatement of philosophies of absolutism that have plagued mankind for millennia. In this view, rights come not from God, but from the state. What rights you have are there because government has given them to you, all for the greater good – defined, of course, by government.
In the 20 years I have been actively engaged in public policy, I have seen the growing influence of this 19th Century German view. It disdains the view of the American Founders. It rejects the notion of inalienable rights endowed equally to every human being by the “laws of nature and of nature’s God.” In this view, it is the state, and not the individual, where rights are vested.
I mention this, because of a debate that occurred last week on the floor of the State Senate. It was a debate that occurred under the portrait of George Washington and the gold-emblazoned motto, “Senatoris Est Civitatis Libertatum Tueri” – “The Senators protect the Liberty of the Citizens.”
At issue was a measure, SB 52, which will require a state-issued license to own a firearm for self-defense. To receive a license, you would have to meet a series of tests, costs and standards set by the state.
We have seen many bills considered and adopted that would infringe upon the right of a free people to bear arms. But this was the most brazen attempt in this legislature to claim that the very right of self-defense is not an inalienable natural right at all, but is rather a right that is licensed from government; a right that no longer belongs to you, but to your betters, who will license you to exercise that right at their discretion.
During the debate on this measure, which passed the Senate 25 to 15, I raised these issues. And I would like to quote to you the response of Senator Sheila Kuehl, to the approving nods of the Senators whose duty is to protect the liberty of the citizens.
She said, “There is only one constitutional right in the United States which is absolute and that is your right to believe anything you want.”
I want to focus on that statement. “The only constitutional right which is absolute is your right to believe anything you want.”
Now, compare that to the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
What rights have a slave? There is only one: a slave can think anything he wants: as long as he doesn’t utter it or act on it – he may think what he wants. He has no right to the fruit of his labor; no right to self-defense, no right to raise his children, no right to contract with others for his betterment, no right to worship – except as his master allows. He has only the right to his own thoughts. All other rights are at the sufferance of his master – whether that master is a state or an owner.
Now, let us continue to look at this new constitutional principle propounded by Senator Kuehl, under the portrait of George Washington to the delight of her colleagues whose duty, according to the proud words above them, is to “Protect the Liberty of the Citizens.”
She continued, “Other than that, (the right to your own thoughts) government has the ability to say on behalf of all the people – I will put it in the colloquial way as my grandmother used to – your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. It’s a balance of your rights and my rights because we all have constitutional rights. And the question for government is how do we balance those rights?”
Indeed, the right to swing your fist does end where my nose begins. An excellent analogy. Shall we therefore amputate your fist so that you can never strike my nose? And would you deny me the use of my own fist to protect my nose?
Senator Kuehl and her colleagues believe government has the legitimate authority to do so. It is simply the question of balancing.
It is very important that we understand precisely what Senator Kuehl and the Left are saying.
This is the best speech on liberty and freedom I've seen in years. Surprisingly, it comes from a California State Senator (District 19)—Tom McClintock—discussing California Senate SB52 (2001).
Here is a good description of SB52 from the Brady Campaign:
[quote www.bradycampaign.org/about/press/release.asp?Record=300 ]
Comparing AB 35 (Shelley) and SB 52 (Scott):
• Handgun Control is sponsoring both bills.
• Both bills have the same core elements. Future handgun buyers must pass a written test and a hands-on firing demonstration with state-certified safety instructors. Handgun buyers must also present local law enforcement with proof of identity and state residency and provide a thumbprint. Neither bill includes handgun registration.
• AB 35 is a "certificate" while SB 52 is a "license." AB 35 expands the current Basic Firearms Safety Certificate (BFSC) system while SB 52 replaces the current BFSC with a handgun license system for future handgun buyers.
• The bills have similar fee structures, are valid for five years and may be renewed by simply retaking the written test.
[end quote]
Senator McClintock's speech is long; however, it is the voice of Liberty crying in the (California) wilderness. I ask you, please, take a few minutes and carefully read this man's speech.
Senator Tom McClintock:
[quote republican.sen.ca.gov/web/mcclintock/article_detail.asp?PID=189 ]
A Speech by Senator Tom McClintock
Western CPAC Conference, Los Angeles, June 9, 2001
There are two modern views of government that begin from entirely different premises.
There is the 18th Century American view propounded by our nation’s founders. They believed, and formed a government based upon that belief, that each of us is endowed by our creator with certain rights that cannot be alienated, and that governments are instituted to protect those rights. This view is proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and reflected in the American Bill of Rights.
The second view is 19th Century German in origin and expressed in the philosophies of Marx and Hegel and Nietzsche. It is a restatement of philosophies of absolutism that have plagued mankind for millennia. In this view, rights come not from God, but from the state. What rights you have are there because government has given them to you, all for the greater good – defined, of course, by government.
In the 20 years I have been actively engaged in public policy, I have seen the growing influence of this 19th Century German view. It disdains the view of the American Founders. It rejects the notion of inalienable rights endowed equally to every human being by the “laws of nature and of nature’s God.” In this view, it is the state, and not the individual, where rights are vested.
I mention this, because of a debate that occurred last week on the floor of the State Senate. It was a debate that occurred under the portrait of George Washington and the gold-emblazoned motto, “Senatoris Est Civitatis Libertatum Tueri” – “The Senators protect the Liberty of the Citizens.”
At issue was a measure, SB 52, which will require a state-issued license to own a firearm for self-defense. To receive a license, you would have to meet a series of tests, costs and standards set by the state.
We have seen many bills considered and adopted that would infringe upon the right of a free people to bear arms. But this was the most brazen attempt in this legislature to claim that the very right of self-defense is not an inalienable natural right at all, but is rather a right that is licensed from government; a right that no longer belongs to you, but to your betters, who will license you to exercise that right at their discretion.
During the debate on this measure, which passed the Senate 25 to 15, I raised these issues. And I would like to quote to you the response of Senator Sheila Kuehl, to the approving nods of the Senators whose duty is to protect the liberty of the citizens.
She said, “There is only one constitutional right in the United States which is absolute and that is your right to believe anything you want.”
I want to focus on that statement. “The only constitutional right which is absolute is your right to believe anything you want.”
Now, compare that to the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
What rights have a slave? There is only one: a slave can think anything he wants: as long as he doesn’t utter it or act on it – he may think what he wants. He has no right to the fruit of his labor; no right to self-defense, no right to raise his children, no right to contract with others for his betterment, no right to worship – except as his master allows. He has only the right to his own thoughts. All other rights are at the sufferance of his master – whether that master is a state or an owner.
Now, let us continue to look at this new constitutional principle propounded by Senator Kuehl, under the portrait of George Washington to the delight of her colleagues whose duty, according to the proud words above them, is to “Protect the Liberty of the Citizens.”
She continued, “Other than that, (the right to your own thoughts) government has the ability to say on behalf of all the people – I will put it in the colloquial way as my grandmother used to – your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. It’s a balance of your rights and my rights because we all have constitutional rights. And the question for government is how do we balance those rights?”
Indeed, the right to swing your fist does end where my nose begins. An excellent analogy. Shall we therefore amputate your fist so that you can never strike my nose? And would you deny me the use of my own fist to protect my nose?
Senator Kuehl and her colleagues believe government has the legitimate authority to do so. It is simply the question of balancing.
It is very important that we understand precisely what Senator Kuehl and the Left are saying.