"Listen my children, and you will hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere." There once was a time -- in the not so distant past -- that every school-aged child could recite one or two lines from the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem and experience the feeling of pride for country in the accounting of a brave patriot who warned the Minutemen on the eve of the greatest insurrection in history.
It’s a story of defiance in the face of tyranny, fairness over taxation without representation, and freedom from an oppressing autocracy as colonists, reluctant to engage in war, had finally reached a boiling point.
If one listens closely, those rumblings of revolt have begun again in the United States of America, but in this verse, her government is the oppressor.
Proponents of the Second Amendment have been a target of an increasingly socialist government for several decades. Politicians calling for a national firearms registry, strict purchasing and transferring regulations, "red flag" rules, and the banning of certain ammunition have law-abiding citizens on edge. And it might just be what is needed to spark a revolution; several states are readying for battle by organizing their modern-day militias and creating Second Amendment sanctuary counties.
Battle Lines
Washington, by all accounts, is a bastion of leftist politics and policies. All except for the small town of Republic, near the Canadian border. The state recently passed sweeping and restrictive firearms legislation, but Republic Mayor Elbert Koontz has declared his city to be a gun sanctuary. “Everybody in Republic has a gun. We don’t have a giant crime rate because nobody in their right mind would come to a house where people have guns and know how to use them.”
His police chief, Loren Culp, agreed, “I felt it was such a blatant disregard for constitutional rights that I felt like I had no choice but to stand up for the people that I served, and that’s the citizens of Republic."
Similar hold out counties and municipalities are sprinkled throughout the country, but two states are leading the nation in taking back control -- Illinois and New Mexico. At least 39 out of 102 counties in liberal-controlled Illinois have passed Second Amendment resolutions -- a warning to the state lawmakers continually attempting to infringe on the right to bear arms.
The state of New Mexico is also under the control of a Democrat super majority. But after the swearing in of the latest Swamp controlled politician, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, and the immediate and readied punitive proposed legislation on her "rocket docket" was the "shot heard round the world" in the Land of Enchantment. In six short weeks, thousands of New Mexican patriots organized and began the process of passing Second Amendment Resolutions at the county level – all but three at last count.
Yes, They Are Symbolic
Proponents of strict gun control have mostly laughed at the resolutions, citing they are nothing more than symbolic and carry no power. These are the same representatives in our state, county, and local governments who do not understand that federal law, and the U.S. Constitution, is still the ultimate power, and the Second Amendment allows for private firearms ownership. So when Boulder's city council approved their brand of a gun registry, it was deemed a fluffy, feel good for liberals ordinance that would not be enforced. And Sanctuary dominions -- whether for illegal immigrants or gun safety zones – are largely symbolic gestures, according to Liberty Nation's Legal Affairs Director, Scott D. Cosenza:
"These types of measures are generally of no legal consequence. They are akin to a proclamation and represent a desire to guide policymakers in another body. If state government wish to preserve the rights of the people (and they should), those states need to enact robust gun rights protections, not merely criticize any attempt by the federal government to infringe on Second Amendment rights. States could also make it a crime to help federal officials in this area. This measure does none of those things."
Oh, but what they do accomplish is much more important.
The Emergence of Innate Patriotism
A quick study of the uprising in the Land of Enchantment should elicit alarm in the hearts of the left -- not only in the state but across the nation. Tyranny, from a socialist leaning government, now unchecked, has engaged a once peaceful, independent electorate to organize, educate, and overwhelm the governing minority that blissfully keeps the boot on the neck of independence.
In the state's largest county, San Juan, it was standing room only during the commissioners meeting as patriots cheered Sheriff Shane Ferrari as he read the resolution, asking that his county become a sanctuary for the Second Amendment. The measure passed – another musket ball whizzing by the ears of those who turn a blind eye to the Constitution.
In a few short weeks, tens of thousands of New Mexicans have signed petitions, drafted candidates to run for office, raised money to fund protests in the state's capital, and are attending every possible local meeting to show the true will of the people. Imagine what can be accomplished by 2020.
Samuel Culper and Darryl Dunlap are two of thousands of people taking back their state, one politician and oppressive ruling at a time. Culper's focus is on a grassroots effort in drafting the right, winnable candidates for every office in the state -- from dog catcher to the governor's office --- which he hopes to see will soon see the last of Lujan-Grisham. He is the face of the resistance at the state capitol, informally nicknamed the "Roundhouse" and has his pads on the pulse of the governor and her minions at the state level. As he states, "She has given everyone in this state her middle finger."
Dunlap is a San Juan County man and the go-to guy for building a grassroots effort to educate and organize people in the fight to retain the Second Amendment. His efforts are now used on 13 different county groups. Dunlap feels the time is now to fire the next shot heard round the world. He is fighting for the rights of every New Mexican in pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, which are all at risk under Democratic policies. "How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard wall." A revolution is at hand across this land. And with spunk, defiance, and lack of fear, the will of the people will be done. Paul Revere would be ever so proud.
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