It was almost humorous to watch Jerry Nadler’s reaction to testimony on the Second Amendment before congress during the last week of October 2021. It’s not like the question was new, but the answer was perfect and stated what everyone needed to hear. The Second Amendment is for preserving American freedom, even if its government loses its way and suddenly federal troops under orders from unconstitutional mandates mean that the police and military are suddenly the bad guys. Further, it’s not for anybody to suspend their constitutional rights while the government figures it out in court, which can drag on for years and ruin lives in the process. Suppose the government is wrong by not following the constitutions we all swore to protect and start acting out of other interests, like United Nations greenie weenie rules that only they came up with. In that case, a corrective measure is needed. The ownership of guns and their use is there to preserve individual liberty from tyranny. And tyranny is a lot of what we have seen up to this point. Fortunately, there haven’t been any shootouts over the preservation of our rights. I think the reason why is most Americans know that they have those gun rights. They have not taken too seriously the criminal government officials like Dr. Fauci that Disney has celebrated as some god of the universe. Luckily the government hasn’t pushed itself onto people yet to the point where pulling a trigger is the only logical answer. But we have come very close over the last few years, so perhaps this testimony was a suitable warning to progressives just how much rope they would be given to hang themselves. But to be clear, Second Amendment rights are the last resort against a tyrannical government, such as we have now. It’s not intended for hunting or to be micro-managed by caliber and to have a government taxing ammunition or deciding what a militia is. The Second Amendment is for preserving our lives and our Republic from the bad guys. Suppose the military isn’t following those rules and are acting by some orders from corrupt officeholders. In that case, gun rights are meant to be that critical layer of protection for the individual.
This is the reason I don’t typically discuss the book The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates. Not because it’s philosophically wrong or not rooted in good legislative law. I like the book quite a bit and am very supportive of people who understand it as officeholders. As was proven during Covid-19, we had tremendous corruption by the various health departments and governors of America until local pushback against unconstitutional mandates, such as sheltering in place and mask-wearing, were realized. It was the worst display of tyranny that the world had seen in one swipe, and I can say that one of the first to push back against Governor DeWine in my state of Ohio was our good Sheriff Jones, who refused to enforce the mask mandates. As an example of the Second Amendment topic here, if Sheriff Jones had not stood up as a Lessor Magistrate in the pecking order of government offices and DeWine had instead ordered the National Guard to go door to door with mask enforcement, then that would be the last straw for a proper government. A defense of liberties would have to be utilized through gun violence. If not for local officeholders such as sheriffs, trustees, and House and Senate members, we saw through Covid that government would keep taking and taking until there is nothing left. So I fully support The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates as a concept of federalism that keeps our government honest. It takes the edge away from having to resort to gun violence to protect our individual lives.
But I have an additional wrinkle in my life that many don’t have; I don’t recognize any authority created by mankind as a higher magistrate to me. I don’t recognize any living creature on the face of this earth as superior to me in any way. All the titles created by mankind have been to do various jobs, whether work, politics, or social structure. They only have value within the scope of the act they are attempting to manage. But in life, I don’t recognize anybody as my superior, so the Lessor Magistrates is a bit of a problem for me. Because it means you have to acknowledge that someone is your Upper Magistrate, which I won’t do. I expect political figures to defend their turf under the federalism of our Republic, where the power starts from the bottom and works its way to the top. And it concerned me greatly for a while to see this gross attempt by the federal government to assert itself as a centralized authority under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, which is still happening by the Jerry Nadler types. Still, many more Americans from the beginning are behaving more along with the proper management of a republic instead of some communist democracy. But there were several terrifying moments along the way that I thought I’d have to turn to the Second Amendment for justice and to hell what happens after. But because of the Lesser Magistrates and some good work by our Sheriff and our House and Senate members, they took away DeWine’s powers and restored to some extent the way our government is supposed to be managed.
Yet, suppose the Lesser Magistrates had not stood up to the Upper Magistrates. In that case, you can bet that tyrannical governors like DeWine would now be turning to the National Guard to enforce their Covid protocols. The United Nations, behind Covid as a push for a Great Reset, has had to watch this process with incredible frustration. Much of their plans for a complete collapse of the American economy so that they could redistribute that wealth across the world were perplexed when all these governors stood in the way of a president they inserted illegally into the White House. Governors like Kristi Noem and Ron DeSantis stood up as Lessor Magistrates to the grotesque imposition of the Upper Magistrates, which then took away the pressure for gun violence as a last resort.
Credit does go to Representative Chip Roy, however, for explaining to Jerry Nadler the essence of the Second Amendment in a very healthy way. Suppose the authorities aren’t following the American Constitution and are seeking to impose some mandate upon me with a threat of violence. In that case, it’s time to turn to the Second Amendment for justice without a second thought. Anybody not following the Constitution in any government is violating the agreement we all make under it. At that point, it may be time for guns to blaze in defense of order and freedom. Compliance with tyrants and unjustified Upper Magistrates is not expected. We aren’t even supposed to surrender our rights and to sort it out in court. The point to deal with the conflict is at the point of the crime. So in that way, I support our government and expect the Lesser Magistrates within the structure of federalism to push back against central authority whenever needed. But if they don’t, I have my way of fighting tyranny, and it wouldn’t be a second thought for me. I’ve been on edge over this issue now for almost two years and am always a fraction of a second away from my unique way of saying no to tyranny. Thank goodness for the Lesser Magistrates, though, that hasn’t happened yet.
Rich Hoffman
The Gunfighter's Guide: 