Our nation is like no other in history.

It was born by individuals standing up against a empire that wished to control all aspects of their lives. This emperor told them what to believe, seized their speech and their property, held their family members without cause, and seized any weapons that these individuals could use to stand against the emperor’s whims.

In short, this king only wanted their complete obedience.

While these individuals were obtaining their freedoms from their oppressor, they began writing a contract. This contract is how they believed each person would give to form this new republic and what was already inherent in all people.

As a citizen of this Republic of the United States of America, I share in this living contract — this contract we call our Constitution. This Constitution, or let’s say a contract between us, sets up our government and reflects what we believe should be our standard of life, liberty and our pursuit of happiness.

In the Constitution we share a Bill of Rights that lays out what we as citizens believe to be in our best interest and so important to our way of life. Each amendment of the Bill of Rights stands by itself and also supports every other Amendment.

The 2nd Amendment recently has come into question, and now, there are some who wish to delete or modify this amendment because they believe it no longer applies in today’s world.

I personally disagree with this statement. There are still tyrants and evil people in this world and some in our shared nation.

Without the 2nd Amendment, the 1st Amendment would be taken away very quickly by these tyrants because they would not like how others were speaking about their rule. Without the 2nd Amendment, your property would be seized without a warrant just because these tyrants want it. These tyrants would even start telling you where to go and what to believe because they would control all information given to you.

So, you could even say the 2nd Amendment props up all other amendments and holds these tyrants at bay.

Ohio believed in this so much the state even clarified it further by stating the following in the Ohio Constitution: Article 1, Section 4, “The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.”

This Republic has historically stood up against tyranny, not just here but in other lands as well. I have known many great people in my life, but the ones that always stand out in my mind are the veterans who have stood up for our rights and our way of life.

Now, some in this Republic want to make sure that all veterans are disarmed because they know how to utilize arms. These veterans are sometimes the first to stand against a tyrant.

To say that our 2nd Amendment is not needed today, and that all should turn in their arms because there is no evil here at home or tyrants in the world, should look at our future without the 2nd Amendment, or at the world’s past history.

Without our 2nd Amendment, tyrants will come.

Kelly Hopkins is the Past All-State Post Commander for VFW Post 6710, President of the Clinton County Leadership Institute and Chief Bailiff of the Clinton County Common Pleas Court.