Posts Tagged → guns
Militia
“Militia” is an oval stained glass window in the Pennsylvania Capitol. Its prominent place is no accident. The militia were formative and fundamental to being American.
Anyone with an interest in the US Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution can look up what ‘militia’ means. All citizens are members of the various militias that have existed since our founding. All militias were mustered with the requirement that each member of the militia provide his own personally owned military grade long arm. The militia provided sufficient shot and powder for the coming engagement.
Whether or not Americans are aware or comfortable with the Constitutional requirements, they exist nonetheless. This is who we are.
Mr Obama, Mrs Feinstein, are you mustering us up?
Monday: Joe Sixpack Hunts the King’s Deer
Feudal Europe provided the backdrop to American Constitutional government, a stark contrast between arbitrary laws and the rule of law.
No greater symbol represents this contrast than the King’s Deer, a wild animal whose sole existence was dedicated to royalty’s pursuit of hunting pleasure. Surrounding the forests in which the deer lived, lived poor peasants and serfs. Often starving and rarely enjoying fresh meat, any English peasant who hunted a deer to feed his family also put his life in jeopardy. Cruel punishments were handed out to those caught ‘poaching the King’s deer’, despite their wide availability.
Fast forward to Pennsylvania, the Keystone State, the cornerstone of American independence and liberty, and the first experiment in democratic colonial rule. Here, wild game was and remains the property of the citizenry. No longer the King’s deer, our ubiquitous whitetails are available to anyone who wishes to take a basic course in hunting ethics, safety, and wildlife conservation. Our game laws are the opposite of Europe’s, even today. Our wild game are available to all free, law-abiding citizens.
Long a symbol of wild places and clean habitat, the graceful whitetail deer is also a symbol of freedom, of the individual opportunity that defines so much of American life.
Tomorrow, Monday, the rifle season for whitetail deer begins around 6:45 AM, and about one million free citizens will be afield with high powered rifles and shotguns in their hands. Each of us all-American Joe Sixpacks will be pursuing not only deer, but ideas. Ideas of freedom of movement, freedom to own firearms without government approval, freedom from want. Hunting isn’t just about shooting or recreation, but about fulfilling our roles as predators in a complex ecosystem, and our duties in a politically complex Republic. Different religions have different expressions of human freedom: the Passover Seder and the Eucharist are two that jump to mind. But here in Pennsylvania, we also have deer season, a secular but nonetheless deeply meaningful observance.
Good luck, shoot straight, be safe, enjoy your family and friends, and remember that a bad day hunting is better than a good day at the job.
Obamageddon 2012 Survival Packages now available!
In keeping with the highbrow intellectual tone of this website, I am offering the “Obamageddon 2012 Survival Package” for sale on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Each package includes a New In Box Norinco SKS rifle in 7.62×39 and one unopened crate of 7.62×39 ammunition. It’s a simple yet effective way to survive whatever 2012 brings us.
The price is $600.00 cash, or your grandma’s old gold teeth, whichever is worth more at the time of our patriotic transaction.
Call the office at 717 232-8335 or email me, info@joshfirst.com