To the Editor:

For the “...security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”

Why is this seemingly simple paragraph listed so prominently, just after the God-given rights of free speech, exercise of religion, and the means to appeal to government? (You may read the full text every day at the bottom of this page.) It is because of the great importance the Founders placed on it. They reasoned that guns in the hands of a free people give a measure of defense against tyrannical governments. They knew their history and the many lessons it taught them.