Constitutional Sanctuaries: Is the Second Amendment the Only One Worth a Radical Defense?

As you are sheltering in place perhaps you are thinking about the fifth amendment, the one that says you cannot be deprived of your liberty without due process. The fact that some governors have threatened citizens with fines and imprisonment if they leave their homes should have every American hot with anger! If you are so overcome with fear of the virus you want to hide from the world, that is your choice. But for the government to force you to become a prisoner in your home, to make you prove it is appropriate for you to exercise your liberty-freedom of movement, assembly, work-is a form of tyranny we have never seen! What despotism do we live under when the government can just rip our livelihood away from us?! Where is the courage we saw not so many months ago?

Before the coronavirus pandemic pushed it from the headlines, the debate over gun control, with Virginia at its epicenter, was center stage. It was a question that resulted in heated exchanges between democrat politicians and candidates and second amendment supporters. In Virginia, and all across the country, so called “second amendment sanctuaries” were declared. These towns and counties stated they would refuse to implement any law they saw as an unconstitutional infringement on the right to keep and bear arms. It is a bold stance and it is about time we the people refused to consent to having our rights trampled upon. The question is, how far are we willing to go with it?

Perhaps the first think we think of when we consider this stand for non-compliance is local law enforcement refusing to go house to house to confiscate banned weapons. No doubt that is part of it. Governor Northam's plan in Virginia includes a ban on the sale of so called “assault weapons” and requires their registration, makes suppressors and magazines over 12 rounds illegal, and requires background checks for sales between private individuals. It is easy to see where one could suddenly find oneself in possession of an illegal item and the refusal of law enforcement to implement such laws would protect constitutional rights. While local sheriffs may face some backlash, they work for the local people who elect them and recriminations would probably be minor.

There is more, however. Would local law enforcement implement the illegal search and seizure provisions of the “red flag” law? It is something they should be asked. If the state attempts to implement the laws with the state police or even the national guard, then what? Does the city or county refuse them entrance, harass them, meet force with force? If an individual refuses to give up a weapon and shoots the government official who, violating his oath of fidelity to the Constitution, demands it with the threat of force, will the local government protect him or her from prosecution? What level of escalation are we willing to endorse and endure?

What about the punishment the state could mete out to localities that resist its will? What if the state chose to withhold funds for local projects? What if it let the roads deteriorate? Refused local school initiatives? Rescinded permission for development or used the state EPA to declare vast tracts of land wetlands to stop homebuilding? How about the local retailers and gun shops. If they flout the new law, will they be protected? They could have licenses revoked, assets seized, and state tax authorities could destroy them and their owners. Based on what is happening now, a governor could simply demand their closure! The state has a lot of weapons at its disposal and the local response to those threats needs to be considered.

The local governments, if they are serious about what they are doing, will disentangle themselves from state authority which will require them to take on responsibilities traditionally relinquished to the state. Education, infrastructure, licensing and a host of other activities will become local concerns. This will require a large amount of additional money and the only way the counties or cities can raise those funds is to co-op taxes that would normally go to state coffers. Sales taxes, income taxes, fees, all of it, will now go to local budgets. This will necessitate the cooperation of local banks who will resist the demands of the state for the funds. Businesses will cease their participation in state tax collection and ignore a host of other regulations. State officials stationed in the local area will be ignored or, if they try to persist in their actions, removed and relocated. It is a lot, to be sure, a total reordering of the governmental hierarchy. But what if all the counties in Virginia that passed second amendment sanctuary resolutions chose this path? Since the vast majority of them have adopted sanctuary policies, if they took these additional steps it would bring the state to its knees and the state government would have no choice but to back off. The question is, is our right to protect ourselves worth the effort?

My additional question to you is this. What about all our other rights? Is your right to free speech and the free exercise of your religion worth defending? You don't think those rights have been under constant attack from our out of control politically correct culture? How about your right to be secure in your person from illegal searches and seizures? Red flag laws, asset forfeiture, IRS confiscation, NSA spying ring any bells? The right of personal liberty and assembly, do you think those rights are respected as your state is under lockdown! Your right to the fruits of your labor. Income tax is a direct violation of that right, morally and constitutionally. The abuses of our rights are legion and as a result of this crisis it is only going to get worse. If we are going to have any hope of seeing liberty for ourselves and our children, we need to broaden our resistance beyond just the second amendment. We need constitutional sanctuaries.

I define a constitutional sanctuary as a political body; city, county or state, that will reject the implementation of any law, rule or regulation that denies fundamental, natural rights or constitutional protections. The ninth and tenth amendments legally guarantee us the right to ascertain the constitutionality of any political action and reject it on the grounds it violates legal or natural rights as individuals or as part of a subdivided political body. Second amendment sanctuaries have asserted this right. With this first step, we must begin to stride forward to recover the free exercise of all our rights as Americans, as heirs and custodians of the American ideals of the Declaration of Independence, ideals paid for with the blood of previous generations.

The first step is self education. If we don't understand our rights as human beings, how can we hope to succeed in restoring our liberty? The success of second amendment sanctuaries is a testament to this foundational requirement. The right to self protection is simple to understand and has had a long history of education and organizational commitment to ensure its continual free exercise. Much of the first amendment has enjoyed a similar status. Others, not so much. The guarantees of the fourth, fifth and sixth amendments are just as crucial to our liberty but their abuse has not yet made it into the popular consciousness. Asset forfeiture, eminent domain abuse, prosecutorial misconduct, and spying are just a few of the government's violations of these provisions. We must educate ourselves. Read the Declaration of Independence to understand the ideals behind the Constitution. Read the Constitution to get a grasp of what powers we the people gave our government and what powers they have usurped. Do some reading to understand your natural rights. Equip yourself for the fight. Without a passionate commitment to the moral case for the free exercise of your rights, the battle cannot be won. If you've already rolled over, making the immoral calculation that resting safely in the bosom of a tyrannical government and sucking at its teat is more attractive than the responsibilities and risks of liberty, you are lost; you have denied your humanity to become mere chattel for the powerful. In the words of Samuel Adams, “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom-go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!” Such do not deserve the title “American”.

If liberty is precious to you and you desire to see your children and grandchildren live in freedom, read on. The first step is a commitment to non-compliance. It had been wonderful to see the signs held up by the second amendment protesters in Richmond- “I will not comply!” That is our first battle cry and the foundation of our resistance. My God, if there was ever a time for it, it is now. Virginians, the first to set up second amendment sanctuaries, where is your courage now? Will you not defy governor Northam again when he is ordering you to stay imprisoned in your home until JUNE!? Where are the sheriffs like Scott Nichols in Maine who refuses to arrest people for violating the governor's stay at home order? Where are the citizens of these police states marching in the streets (while keeping their distance)? If you lack the courage to defy your imprisonment do you really think you will muster it when they come for your guns?!

Non-compliance, defying authority, is a courageous act, an act from which heroes are forged. But let us not romanticize too much. It is also an act that will make one an outlaw. The despotic state does not respond kindly to those who refuse to follow its dictates and fill its coffers. When our founders signed the Declaration of Independence and pledged their “lives, fortunes and sacred honor,” they understood exactly what they were doing. Outlaws do not keep nice homes or enjoy normal family lives. If caught, prison and death awaited and many of them suffered greatly for their commitment. Failure of independence would have been the end of all of them. The same is true for us. Non-compliance is breaking the law: illegitimate, immoral law but law none the less. Fines and jail time may be the result. None of us want that, no one wants to rot in prison for years hoping one's stand sparked a movement for real change.

Constitutional sanctuaries are the answer. Free individuals treading water in a sea of tyranny are easy targets. Island communities of liberty are not so simple to overcome. Now is the time to start, sheriffs and county officials need to reject these unconstitutional imprisonment orders. Never before has tyranny been more blatant and obvious. If we buckle under now and allow ourselves to be interred and impoverished at the behest of simple executive fiat, if we will not stand up to these fundamental abuses, we are truly lost. However, if we start now, if we realize our power to resist today, it could very well be the start of the Great American Restoration.

The key to living in freedom is to emasculate (or eliminate) the tyrant. If the despot no longer has the ability to punish those who refuse to conform to his vision or comply with his wishes, he is reduced to an impotent man living in poverty screaming at the wind. Failure to comply with restrictions of your rights, failure to pay protection money to the criminal state, failure to grovel at the feet of government for your daily bread will bring recriminations and the power of the government to punish you is vast. But that is our fault. We have allowed the tentacles of government to envelope every aspect of our lives, just waiting to squeeze the life out of us at the slightest resistance. The power and control government has today are the wet dreams of tyrants like Hitler and Stalin. Disentangling ourselves from their web is a daunting task so we will take it one step at a time.

Non-compliance begins with ignoring the dictates of the tyrannical power. We will not comply with mandatory buybacks of firearms. We will no longer relinquish our hard earned property. We will exercise our right to assemble, worship, work and travel freely and ignore any restrictions upon them. Businesses will refuse to act as collection agents for plunder. You get the idea. The second part of non-compliance requires a community political response or else we will simply be a bunch of individual outlaws. Even though the laws we refuse to comply with are immoral and unconstitutional, the government will still try to enforce them. We will be charged. Charges, however, mean nothing if they cannot be followed up with arrest, fines and/or imprisonment.

This requires the emasculation of the state or federal authorities that attempt to punish our “lawbreaking.” This begins with lack of local cooperation. The illegal immigrant sanctuary cities have shown us the path here. But that is only the first step. Bureaucrats and law enforcement who choose to violate their oath of fidelity to the Constitution must be isolated and rendered impotent. Their offices must be closed down and they must be given the choice of quitting their jobs or leaving the county/state. Some of these people, like the jack booted thugs in the justice department, will need to be disarmed. This will require some form of organized militia to work in cooperation with local law enforcement. Without enforcement authority, unconstitutional edicts will be meaningless.

However, in our technologically sophisticated society, government punishment does not require an agent with a gun. A bureaucrat at a keyboard can inflict a lot of pain. The powers the IRS uses on a daily basis to empty bank accounts and freeze assets are just the beginning. Rendering enforcement agents powerless is a giant step toward protecting our personal liberty; protecting our property from their malicious efforts requires a whole other level of cooperation. Of course as individuals we can take the first steps by putting our property beyond their reach as much as possible. Eventually, local banks and other financial institutions will need to become non-complaint as well. They will ignore orders to seize property. Lien and levy requests will be rejected. This will necessitate several huge changes. Banks must disentangle themselves from the federal reserve system. They will no longer use social security numbers as identifiers. They will have to stand on their own two feet, becoming entirely transparent and earning our trust. Ultimately, it may require us to adopt a new medium of exchange, perhaps reverting to a currency based on gold and silver, a new blockchain cryptocurrency or even a combination of both.

One thing you can bet on is that the money the state uses to control us and make us dependent will stop. As mentioned earlier, the tax money that is no longer leaving will be used to make up those shortfalls. We will probably find out that eliminating the huge number of hands that money goes through before it comes back to local jurisdictions will make every dollar much more effective. And if local governments privatize their largest expenditures like education, budgets will be small and focused. Citizens will receive a boost in pay since huge amounts will no longer being stolen from every check. This excess will be available to go to local charities which will need to pick up the slack when federal or state money is no longer flowing in. Local charities that will be accountable and require accountability from their recipients will meet these needs. It sounds like a lot but one hundred years ago it was the norm. Americans are a generous and tough lot, it is our heritage. We can make it work, it will be worth it to make it work.

Ultimately, government is force. A moral and Constitutional government will limit that force, using it solely as an extension of the individual right of self defense. A tyrannical government uses force to establish control. There is a good probability it will eventually come down to a question of force. How will that play out? If you look at it simply as a question of a few counties or even a state against the might of the US armed forces, the answer is obvious. But it is not that simple. While there is no doubt that ass kissers and boot lickers in the upper ranks of the military and national guard will slavishly carry out any orders, will the majority of the rank and file so ignore their oath to the Constitution that they will use force against their fellow citizens? I have my doubts. Nor are we powerless. Technological sophistication is a two edged sword that can be used against an aggressor as well. Hackers could well disrupt vital infrastructure, banking or even attack politicians and high level bureaucrats to apply pressure. Conflict is no longer just a matter of bullets, tanks and planes.

Finally, there is the PR battle, where all modern US wars are won or lost. There are a lot of freedom loving people in this country fed up with out of control government at all levels. I have no doubt the patriots who step into the line of fire first will get a lot of support and inspire others to step forward as well. Courage is contagious. And it will force the rest to confront questions that have been ignored way too long. Sides will need to be chosen and our fellow citizens will be compelled to look a despotic government in the face and decide if they will continue to support it.

All of this is just a broad outline, there are a multitude of other details that will need to be worked out. Perhaps as you have been reading you have been saying to yourself “what about this” and “what about that”. Good. We need to start a conversation, identify problems and come up with solutions that will make the effort to restore our natural, God-given rights a reality. As human beings it is our duty. As Americans it is our right to “alter or abolish” our government when it becomes “destructive” to our rights. These suggestions are in the “alter” category. It is a step short of secession which would be to “abolish”. As an American I have the deepest respect for the ideals upon which our nation was founded and the wisdom of the founders in formulating a plan to implement them. I have a profound appreciation for the sacrifices they and succeeding generations made to advance and protect that vision. While we have not been perfect, most men being subject to the prejudices and perspective of their times, we have a history I take pride in. These are things not to be discarded lightly. We all want to be able to proudly look at the stars and stripes and answer the question at the end of our national anthem with a resounding YES!

While the time may come when the restoration of rights demands the dissolution of our ties with the government of the United States of America, this is a plan for restoring our Constitutional republic, returning the federal government to its limited parameters and recovering the vision our founders had of a land of liberty where each man and woman could live in freedom and the only restraints on their actions were the rights of their fellow citizens. That would truly unlock the unlimited potential in each one of us and create a society in which life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are enjoyed by all.