Every few months I receive a forwarded email with a pre-amble, often customized or re-written by someone, but linking one to the USA Today Poll FROM NOVEMBER 2007:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/november/popup5895.htm

The big question being: "Does the Second Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?"

Options are: Yes, No, Undecided.

The forwarded email, of course, beseeches us to answer "YES, Let's show 'em!"

And, of course, sadly the results are 97% YES!
And there are over 6 MILLION respondents (since 2007).

And, unfortunately it is a trick question... my reasoning is below... if you are so inclined please feel free to share with all who will listen...it is at the crux of how Americans view their relationship with our government, servant or master.

If i knew the editor at USToday or thought they would listen, i would have them change the poll... yeah right!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/november/popup5895.htm

None of the Amendments "give" us our rights... that denotes a privilege that can be taken away was well.
Our rights are unalienable... naturally occurring to us... if given at all, then given to us by our creator.

The Amendments were put there to ensure that government does not "infringe" on our rights that were ours to begin with before government was formed.

The first 10 Amendments were all about what government "shall not" do. There's nothing about what government "shall allow".

So unfortunately the intention of the poll might be good (might be)... but it really is only going to create more uneducated Americans about their God-given rights.

The Last Nickel

A father walks into a restaurant with his young son. He gives the young boy 3 nickels to play with to keep him occupied.

Suddenly, the boy starts choking, going blue in the face. The father realizes the boy has swallowed the nickels, and starts slapping him on the back.

The boy coughs up 2 of the nickels, but keeps choking. Looking at his son, the father is panicking, shouting for help.

A well-dressed, attractive, and serious looking woman in a blue business suit is sitting at the coffee bar reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. At the sound of the commotion, she looks up, puts her coffee cup down, neatly folds the newspaper and places it on the counter, gets up from her seat and makes her way, unhurried, across the restaurant.

Reaching the boy, the woman carefully drops his pants; takes hold of the boy's' testicles, and starts to squeeze and twist, gently at first, and then ever so firmly. After a few seconds the boy convulses violently and coughs up the last nickel, which the woman deftly catches in her free hand.

Releasing the boy's testicles, the woman hands the nickel to the father, and walks back to her seat at the coffee bar without saying a word.

As soon as he is sure that his son has suffered no ill effects, the father rushes over to the woman and starts thanking her saying, "I've never seen anybody do anything like that before. It was fantastic. Are you a doctor? "

"No," the woman replied, "I'm with the I.R.S."

In case you have not seen these videos yet on the Open Carry Controversies in AZ and NH.

Below is an interview with Ernest Hancock, one of the organizers of this media stunt. Ernest points out that law enforcement in Phoenix AZ protect the citizens' rights. They were totally in the loop on
What are you up against? Sanchez asks him.
We are up against a tyrant government who continues to plunder the next generation until there is nothing left, say Ernie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfN7woo2xRY