There Is No “But” In Shall Not Infringe

Maharrey’s Monday Musings

I can’t tell you how many times over the last week or so that I’ve heard somebody say, “I support the Second Amendment, but…”

This is a prime example of the principle that you can pretty much ignore everything a person says before the “but.” 

They don’t mean it.

If there is a “but” in a statement of support for the Second Amendment, the person doesn’t really support the Second Amendment.

I can’t emphasize this enough. There is no “but” in the Second Amendment. It simply says, “shall not infringe.”

Period.

End of story. 

This leads me to a second important point. I hear stuff like this all the time. “The Second Amendment does not give you the right to own an AR-15.”

This is actually true. It doesn’t give you the right to own an AR-15. The Second Amendment doesn’t give you any rights at all. It actually prohibits the federal government from infringing on a right you already have – the right to keep and bear arms. And yes. That includes an AR-15.

The first 10 amendments are restrictions on the federal government. They really should have called the Bill of Rights the “Bill of Restrictions.” That would have eliminated a lot of confusion. 

Here’s the key point: these restrictions on federal power are absolute. There are no exceptions. There are no asterisks. There are no “buts.”

Shall not infringe means shall not infringe!

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