The most basic of all natural rights is the ability to defend oneself. Every creature on Earth knows this inherent truth. When danger lurks and our lives are threatened, whether we be field mouse or man, we will do everything and anything we can to protect ourselves. We have the natural right to Life. This right is not based on civilization or a legal system or a government. It is the birthright of every human being.
We have the right to Liberty. We can do what we wish, make what decisions we will, so long as we do not harm others.
We have the right to Pursue Happiness; to embark on whatever journey we will, live how we will, and chase what goals we will. So long as we do not harm others, no man or woman alive has a right to interfere with that. So it was before civilization began and so it is now. These rights are unalienable. No law can bestow them and no law can take them away.
Rational and decent people do not want to do harm to others. Most of us want nothing more than to live our lives, care for our families, and pursue happiness, whatever our definition of it. But not everyone is rational and not everyone is good.
There are many, through nature or nurture or both who take what they can, when they can. They have no respect for life or liberty and certainly none for the laws of man. When these people come to kill us, to hurt us, to hurt our children, to take our property, to take from us what they have no right to do, we will defend our lives with everything we have, just like every creature on the planet.
These evil men often come with weapons - with guns or knives. When they break into your home or put a gun to your car window or draw a knife on your family, what possible concern is it to the government how you defend yourself? What possible say should they have in the manner in which you destroy those who would destroy you?
There was much that our founding fathers did not agree on: states: rights versus federal rights, a standing army versus militias, how involved we should be with the international community, the manner in which we managed debt, and many more significant arguments that still rage today. Almost universally, however, they believed in a man's right to bear arms. A gun is the great equalizer. It protects a man from those who would do him violence. It protects a people from tyranny. It keeps a man free. The quotes on the subject are numerous, but Thomas Jefferson said it most clearly, "Free men do not ask permission to bear arms."
They don't need to.
And any government that believes in a free citizenry would never infringe on their right to do so.
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