THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS NOT ABOUT DEER HUNTING

Thursday, 8:30 AM.  9 degrees F, wind WNW, light with stronger gusts.  It is overcast, hazy  and foggy, and Madeline Island is not visible.  The barometer is more or less steady at 29.80 in., and the humidity is 83%.  We have an inch or two of new snow on the ground and it is beginning to fall again; fine, icy crystals.
    The gun control debates are now on in earnest in Washington, DC and around the country, even while new incidents of gun violence grab the headlines.  All of this is leading to a fundamental discussion of whether there should even be a Second Amendment, and  a considerable number of legislators and judges evidently think not. 
    The Second Amendment is not about deer hunting.  It says nothing about the right of citizens to possess firearms to hunt game.  The Second Amendment is about protecting ourselves, collectively and individually, from tyranny, both foreign and domestic.  It is about protecting ourselves from the arbitrary power of criminals, kings and dictators.  It is about preserving the physical and political freedom of the individual.  Dig deep enough beneath the rhetoric of the current gun debates and you will find that the fear of arbitrary dictatorial power is a prime motivator in the opposition to gun laws.
    And I believe there would be far less emotional opposition to,  and far greater opportunity for intelligent discourse and compromise on this issue and many others, if the Obama Administration did not habitually act like the opressor the Second Amendment is intended to protect Americans against. 
The obstreperous, conniving, bullying abuse of power, and the disdain and hostility toward all opposition that characterizes this administration causes multi-millions of Americans to cling ever more firmly to their bibles, their constitution, and indeed their guns.