By Sara Tipton
Being American is epic. But it’s an experience that only a small percentage of Earth’s inhabitants can enjoy. On this day, when we celebrate our Declaration of Independence from our country’s British overlords, we should remember that most of the world’s population labors under the yoke of government tyranny.
We’re lucky. But our liberation wasn’t a matter of luck. It was a matter of determination. Our Founding Fathers were determined to end the “long train of abuses and usurpations” so that Americans could be free. They did it, ultimately, under force of arms.
Those who truly stand for freedom know that Americans’ right to keep and bear arms isn’t about hunting. Or protection against criminals. Or defense against an invading army. It’s about protection against a tyrannical government. You cannot have freedom without the absence of tyranny. Our gun rights create the space for our freedoms to flourish.
As a people, we use this space to differ on matters of religion, sexual orientation, taxation, the role of the courts, the proper type of policing and on and on and on. The fact that we can do so without tearing the country apart – again – has everything to do with the fact that each individual can defend themselves individually, to protect their individual rights by exercising their individual right to keep and bear arms.
That said, we aren’t a country of free men and women because we own guns or the Constitution says so. We are free because natural law says that we have the right to defend our lives against those who would harm, enslave, or kill us.
Should statists repeal the Second Amendment, my right to protect myself, my freedom to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, remains mine. My gun rights are not granted by government. They’re inherent in me.
On this day we should celebrate our country’s courage, past and present. We should be thankful for the men and women we pay to protect that freedom. But we should also celebrate our own resolve. For it is that resolve that keeps us free, one American at a time.