We Must Send a Strong Message to the North Dakota House Members Rebuking them for their Cowardice by not Defending our God-given Rights!

Over the last week and a half, we have witnessed North Dakota’s FDR Democrats, who masquerade as Republicans, sentence FOUR pro-liberty Second Amendment bills to the murky deeps of the Bismarck Bog.

Matt Heilman (R, D7)

These broadsides of freedom, meant to restore just government to North Dakota, were primarily brought forth by Second Amendment Champions Representatives Matt Heilman (R, D7) & Ben Koppelman (R, D16).

Ben Koppelman (R, D16)

While only in his first legislative session, Rep. Heilman is setting the standard for how young Americans are choosing to throw off the chains of socialism and begin to restore the constitutional foundations of this Great Nation, which previous generations have allowed to crumble under the weight of their self-indulgent hedonism.

Rep. Heilman, in fidelity to his stated aims, submitted House Bill 1401, a standard version of an Anti-Red Flag that would have reined in local governments from enforcing unconstitutional infringements upon the God-given right of North Dakotans to keep and bear arms. It is important for you to know that this type of legislation is vital considering that the hivemind socialists are pushing their anti-liberty legislation within the remaining thirty-one States that have not already passed Red Flag bills.

While it is true that red-flag laws raise important “due process” concerns, what must not be overlooked is that red-flag laws are also blatant violations of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, and no amount of “due process” can make the infringement less of one. The Second Amendment protects “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” –regardless of whether the government thinks it is a good idea that a particular individual possesses a firearm.

Rep. Heilman also advanced House Bill 1404, would have restored the right of young Americans to defend their lives on the grounds of public universities and college campuses. Regrettably, H.B. 1404 and 1401 were defeated in the House, though about half the house members voted for these pro-liberty bills.

House Bill 1483, would have granted citizens the permission to defend their lives with commonly held arms in some public buildings. Naturally, the tyrannical Federal over-reach still oppresses “We the People.” Thus, schools, federal facilities, and courthouses did not apply to this legislation.

An honorable mention goes to Rep. Bill Tveit (R, D33) for House Bill 1194, an incrementalist bill that would have granted honorably discharged military veterans the privilege to conceal carry within schools, churches and public buildings. While Rep. Tveit’s intentions were noble, the God-given right to defend life, liberty, and property is a gift granted to us by our Creator, which naturally infers that it applies to all humanity equally.

Rep. Bill Tveit (R, D33)

The other issue with Tveit’s bill is self-evident: the State legislature does not have the enumerated authority to regulate private schools and churches. The Founders intended for the States to be independent of the Federal Government because These United States formulate the elements that comprise our Constitutional Republic, which, out of common cause, banded together to create a ‘defined’ federal government with delegated powers to address specific areas of common interest between the States. This “dual federalism,” was created to form two exclusive jurisdictions, though it is true that the Federal Government was intended to be sovereign but only within it expressly limited domain. Madison, writing in Federalist No. 40, affirms this principle by maintaining that “the general powers [of the federal government] are limited; and that the States, in all unenumerated cases, are left in enjoyment of their sovereign and independent jurisdiction.” Here Madison is also asserting the notion that the enumeration of specific powers was regarded to denote the fact that what was not enumerated was not granted…

The only two bills not sunk to the bottom of the bog are Rep. Koppelman’s House Bill 1339 and House Bill 1340. H.B. 1339 would make North Dakota a true Permitless Carry State by removing residence restrictions, which restores the right of self-defense to all American citizens within the borders of the State. H.B. 1340 seeks to shore up the State’s pre-emption statutes by prohibiting cities and counties from passing zoning laws that infringe upon the right of the citizenry to sell their private property, whether from their home or a store front.

The award for the most vitriolic hostility towards your liberties, goes to Representative Todd K. Porter (R, D34). In an epic display of Newspeak and Doublethink, Porter claimed to be the strongest defender of the Second Amendment while simultaneously arguing against his professed beliefs. You are encouraged to watch the shocking display here. (Time: 1:34:00-36:50). Perhaps what is most disturbing, is that Rep. Porter made a clear demonstration that he has no grounding within this nation’s First Principles and has never taken the “baby steps” to “study” why the Founders prudently enumerated the God-given right to defend life, liberty, and property with commonly held arms firmly with our Founding Documents.

Lastly, Porter’s disrespectful remarks towards veterans are unconscionable. While it is true that there are varying levels of weapons training between the differing branches, as well as military operational specialties, the vast majority of our military members have had more hours of arms training than Porter. Prudence would suggest that if one is claiming to speak with authority on an important issue such as an infringement upon our God-given rights, one would, at the very least, expect that the individual would have preformed their due diligence and studied the topic before having their questionable remarks recorded for all posterity within the legislative record… Sadly, this is the norm for most of our political “leaders.” Perhaps it is time that we return to the example set by our Founders, and elect statesmen and women, instead of politicians, who treat our rights as if they were commodities to be traded away in backroom deals.

Legislators, like Porter, seem not to understand that we have life as a gift from our Creator. Our rights are not only self-evidently true, but also, they are endowments to all humanity, equally. The right to life means that individuals have the right to take the necessary actions for the support, development, and well-being of their own life. Moreover, it means that one has the right to self-ownership, self-sustenance, self-government, self-preservation, and self-defense. These inherently interwoven principles also intrinsically imply that the right serves as a legal fence protecting individuals from the initiation of coercion by others. That timeless truth is such, regardless of whether the infringing misconduct is instigated by a lawless individual or by the actions of an unjust government. The correlative rule forbids individuals from initiating force against the life of another person, unless acting in defense of life, liberty, and property. The Second Amendment, therefore, is the means by which you safeguard the above-mentioned rights. Consequently, the right is not wholly concerned with inanimate objects, rather it is about the preservation of life.

As obvious gifts from the Creator, these individual rights are therefore unalienable — a term that means “not capable of being taken away or denied” as well as “not transferable to any other.” Given that our liberties are inherent to our humanity, a government cannot strip away the right to keep and bear arms simply because, in doing so, it has complied with due process rights.

I concluded the lecture…With this initial lesson in mind, mayhap Rep. Porter can take the next few months to seek truth through the realization of the virtue of right reason which enables one to act upon what is good and beautiful in this life.

As for the rest of the elected representatives who forsook their oath to secure the “blessing of liberty” for the citizens of North Dakota, let’s send a respectful but firmly worded message informing them of our displeasure at their betrayal of their most rudimentary duty. For those who had the moral courage to restore just governance to North Dakota, send them a thank you message for standing in the breach in defense of liberty!