Some Folks Need a History Lesson on Keeping Their Powder Dry
There are obviously a lot of opinions in politics, and since GOC has been in the political trenches for over 40 years, we’ve seen just about everything. We’ve seen it coming from the Left – and from the Right – a lot of people think their opinion matters more than anyone else’s and they are not shy about spouting off.
As the election nears, the voices are becoming more ferocious. 2nd Amendment die-hards are passionate and some are ready to storm the gates of government in response to violent anti-American protests across the country. GOC agrees – it is painful to watch cities set ablaze, small businesses torched and livelihoods destroyed.
One individual recently contacted us, intimating the 2nd Amendment community is somehow lacking gumption, clearly inferring that we haven’t the courage of the founders to start a revolution.
GOC decided to respond because the question comes up now and again about when Americans should “rise up” to fight. We have history on our side, and the response from our Executive Director is below:
“Dear Sir:
Given the tumult our nation is experiencing, some have asked when is the right time to take up arms. I have decided to respond personally because this question continues to come up and it’s important.
As one who earnestly believes in my right – and responsibility to self (and family) protection, I am very prepared for anything and everything that might come my way. I would, however, suggest to you that we have not reached the point to where we need to “rise up” with arms. As a matter of fact, I believe that it would dishonor our founding fathers if we were to rebel with arms at this point.
The founders gave us a system of government where We The People are in charge. We elect our representatives and send them to halls of government to, well, represent us. When those representatives stop representing us, we have the ability to replace them. They are called elections.
As long as we have the ability to organize and vote, it wrong for us to rebel with arms. When we can no longer vote, only then will we have tyranny.
It is incumbent on us, those who believe in this country and our form of government, to organize and work with like-minded people to change our government through the system established in the U. S. Constitution.
I can tell you for a fact that we have the government we have now because those who say they believe in this country have not been as willing to fight for what they believe as much and as hard as those who oppose us. It’s each one of our jobs to organize and motivate our fellow patriots to get off their couches and out of their back yards to get out and vote and get others to vote. We have what we have because too many of our folks have been far too willing to take their freedom for granted. They prefer to work at their jobs, enjoy their families, their churches and their avocations. They leave no time in their lives to fight for freedom – and while this may be understandable to some degree, this inactivity and apathy has busted the door open for our rights to be trampled. For the other side, both their vocations and their avocations are dedicated to gaining political power.
If our folks were willing to sacrifice some time and treasure to fighting for freedom, GOC and GOA (and other pro-gun organizations) would have tens of millions of members and the majority of Congress and state legislatures would be packed with patriots and lovers of the Constitution.
It’s not time to shoot, it’s time to wake up and be “the people.”
One more thing: you were right about the colonists. They had the courage to do what was necessary, BUT there is a difference: they only took up arms after going through the established system of government of that time. They had persistently sent delegations to petition the Crown for redress of their grievances, and it was only after they were basically stripped of their rights as citizens of England and lost any and all representation, that they declared tyranny by the British government. And the rest is history.
GOC will continue to inform people about candidates and their positions on the 2nd Amendment and organize to utilize the system of government that was established by our founding fathers through the U.S. Constitution and that takes courage.”
Sam Paredes
Executive Director, Gun Owners of California
As an addendum, while fighting to uphold the Constitution, GOC has been faced with the fanatical ugliness of the Left and their anti-gun minions. We have been told that we have blood on our hands – that we are terrorists and child killers. Death threats have been made against our organization, but we continue to fearlessly be out in front doing what we can to educate people from one end of the state to another – whether they are legislators, Capitol staff, college students, civic groups or the media – and we are fighting for every gun owners in the State of California, regardless of whether they are members or not.
And we will not stop fighting – even though some think they have better ideas. We are always open to a good dialogue. We have some good ears at GOC! But it bears repeating, too, that there are a lot of people who have strong opinions on things they know nothing about.