Rural America's Law Enforcement Are All Oath Keepers, Right? WRONG!
Anybody that knows me also knows how strongly I feel about the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment. I don't think I need to point out my upbringing or the service members of my own immediate family have given to their country both oversees and here in the heartland.
What is meant by the “oath” in “oath keeper?” In a nutshell, it is the oath that someone has taken prior to some sort of government service that involves upholding or defending the constitution. Every person in the military and commissioned law enforcement must take this oath. Almost, if not all elected officials must take a similar oath.
That being said, just because someone takes this type of oath does NOT make then an “Oath Keeper.” An “Oath Keeper” is someone who goes one step farther and declares that they took their oath as a sacred covenant or promise and they shall abide by it in the same sober spirit as one who would make a covenant in matrimony or to God.
Sometime in the Summer of 2007, I believe, I went to the office of our sheriff and asked him to give me his opinion on a matter that I was curious about. I asked the sheriff this hypothetical question, “If a natural disaster or some other type of emergency were to take place and a federal force or United Nations Military forces were to come to Stoddard County and they were to advise you that they were going to go house to house and confiscate weapons from the citizens and you were requested or ordered to assist in this operation would you?”
I thought I would receive a quick and firm “Absolutely not!” Unfortunately, this was not the case. To follow are a few of the phrases that were included in his response:
“Well, I hope it wouldn't come to that.”
“Sometimes, that citizen with the gun could possibly save your life.”
“I guess it depends on how bad things got and who exactly was giving the orders”
What I SHOULD have heard was...
“NO! That would be unconstitutional and I wouldn't be a part of it!”
Somewhere about this time I also asked a local assistant chief of police the same question. The response I got was that orders would have to be followed. This individual also to me that they held to the belief that there was no reason for any individual person who was not in the military or in law enforcement, to own or possess any type of weapon that could possibly be classified as an “assault weapon.”
I pointed out that the founding fathers meant the 2nd Amendment not for protection against thieves and thugs but as a part of a grand system of checks and balances against the Government that they were establishing. I gave this individual quotes from a few founding father's and others of the period to affirm this. Some of which I will now list.
The Constitution preserves "the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation. . . (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." -- The Federalist, No. 46 James Madison
"[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens." -- The Federalist, No. 29 Alexander Hamilton
"What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins." -- Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789 Elbridge Gerry
"The great object is, that every man be armed." Patrick Henry
"While the people have property, arms in their hands, and only a spark of noble spirit, the most corrupt Congress must be mad to form any project of tyranny." Rev. Nicholas Collin, Fayetteville Gazette (N.C.), October 12, 1789
"... whereas, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them..." Richard H. Lee, Additional Letters from the Federal Farmer 53, 1788
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people's liberty teeth keystone... the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable... more than 99% of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour." (Address to 1st session of Congress) George Washington
Enough of that. I could go on and on.
The answers I received from these two individuals were honest answers. When I posed these questions I was doing so as an active police chief who was in uniform at the time. I do not believe that any other citizen who would have asked these questions would have gotten identical answers. That is besides the point, for now, anyway.
The point, in fact, is we have elected and appointed officials who have taken oaths who wouldn't think twice about violating that oath if put into certain situations.
I feel that the violation of the oath does not necessarily have to be connected to the second amendment. Remember Jeanne Harris, the council woman from Vancouver, Washington who violated the 1st Amendment when she tried to take away the right to free speech from a citizen who came to speak at a council meeting. She later admitted to a radio talk show host, Lars Larson, that she was not familiar with the constitution at all.
I heard one of my own alderman, from my ward, telling another alderman from the north ward that it was his desire to limit the number of yard sales and garage sells a citizen of our town could have to two a year. Where does this mentality come from? This man is a licensed financial advisor and a lawyer. How can someone so educated lack the knowledge and understanding of the principles of our constitution and our basic freedoms. The constitution does not, by the way, grant us our freedoms, it only protects and guarantees them as they were granted by God.
I think that we as citizens of local communities should inquire of our officials if they would consider themselves to be “Oath Keepers!” If not, vote them out before it's too late.