According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, the term “saber rattling” is defined as:

a threatening of war, or a menacing show of armed force.

Some people call it posturing. In the animal world it’s related to establishing “pecking order”. Some people would have us believe that a pecking order is a bad thing, that it’s barbaric, and should be reserved only for the animal world. I disagree. It’s a natural thing that will happen no matter how much people try to suppress it. Pecking order keeps the world in a state of organized cosmos. Every playground has one, every corporate board room, and even the halls of Congress. It’s the way the world works, and without it there would be chaos and unending strife. People have to know who is in charge and who must bend the knee and kiss the ring that rules.

I suppose that’s why firearms are so important. They are the equalizing force, available to all free people everywhere. They tell the 200-pound sexually aggressive male that he must not rape the 120-pound female, who is alone on the street at night with no one around to protect her. The firearm gives her the ability to kill the stronger  male.

Firearms tell the sociopath that he must not break into your family’s home at night and kill your family as you sleep. There is always the chance that you will awaken, get your firearm and shoot him until he dies. Dead sociopaths and dead rapists. That’s a good thing, a necessary thing for society to function in an orderly fashion.

Without the right to keep and bear arms, we revert to humanity’s default state of “law of the jungle”, where only the strong survive, where the big rule the small, and where the weak die in a puddle of blood, flesh and urine. We need the firearm and the freedom to use it or our children will live in a binary world of masters and slaves, with no check on immorality, no governor to hold the strong accountable, and no way to protect the weak from the strong.

In a world without freedom and firearms, only the evil will have guns, and they will use them to the detriment and enslavement of good people everywhere. History has taught us that, and it’s a lesson we should forget only at our own peril.

So what does all this have to do with saber rattling, a threatening of war, or a menacing show of armed force?

Look at the present situation in America. Many say we are on the brink of economic collapse. Our elected officials exude an unprecedented arrogance, totally ignoring the will of the people, hell-bent on dragging us into a world we neither want for ourselves nor our children. In short, the pecking order has been established, and it’s 180 degrees out of phase. They are the ruling class and we are subservient to them.

Or are we?

I hear the clank of metal on metal in the distance.

All across the country, Americans are rising up and biting the hand that feeds them. In some cases, the hand is getting ripped clean off! In Virginia, in New Jersey, and even in Massachusetts. The chain is chafing their necks and they want it gone!

The politicians…they ignore us.

For the past year we’ve heard a lot about the TEA parties and the nine-twelvers. People like Glenn Beck (God bless him) continue to educate America on Freedom 101 and the original intent of our founding fathers. We the people have been exercising our First Amendment rights to the hilt. We’re screaming! We’re protesting! We’re faxing! We’re phoning and marching and yelling….

But still…they ignore us.

I hear the clank of metal on metal in the distance, but not so distant today as it was yesterday or the day before, or the day before, or the day before.

I have a feeling, just a feeling, that I’m not alone. There are a lot of people out there like me who will no longer tolerate the arrogance of politicians who ignore us. I’ve been told that there’s only one thing worse than being abused, and that’s being ignored. If you kick me, at least I know I exist. But if you ignore me, then I’m not even worth the trouble.

And here’s the million-dollar question:  “What happens if the First Amendment fails?”

Our founding fathers answered that when the King of England ignored their pleas for fairness, for equal representation, and for basic human rights. The founders rattled their sabers for years, hoping above hope that they would never have to use them. But, in the end, the King acted like a King and tried to dominate and disarm his disloyal subjects.

Several years ago, I was teaching a husband and wife in a private firearms class. We were on the range behind their barn, shooting at targets up against an embankment. The woman was shooting a nice, 9mm Glock, and she honestly could not hit the broad side of a barn from the inside. I tried everything I knew to get her on target, but it was no use. I couldn’t find the problem. Her husband told me she was a good shot, and that she usually shot better than he did. I questioned her some more, and she finally threw up her hands in frustration and said, “I don’t even know why I’m doing this! I could never shoot anyone anyways. My husband made me take this class!” At her remark, a light went off in my head, and I interjected. “What if someone was trying to kill you? Could you shoot someone then?” She said, “No! I couldn’t kill someone to save my own life. I’d just go ahead and die!”

I thought that was rather odd, but I could tell she was sincere, so I thought about it a second, and then I said.

“Okay, let’s use a little training technique called visualization.”

She nodded her head impatiently.

“Okay, here’s the scenario: You’re at the gas station filling your tank. A man drives up and parks next to your car. He gets out, walks over, reaches through the open window of your car, removes your daughter from her car seat and puts her in his own vehicle. He then starts to get into his car to drive away.”

There was a horrified look on the young mother’s face.

“At that moment in time, could you take another human life?”

Without hesitation, this proper Christian woman said, “I would kill that son of a bitch!”

I said, “Okay then, that target down there is the man who is stealing your daughter. Fire away.” She never missed the target again.

My question to everyone reading this article is this: “For you, as an individual, when do you draw your saber? When do you say “Yes, I am willing to rise up and overthrow an oppressive, totalitarian government?”

Is it when the government takes away your  private business?
Is it when the government rigs elections?
Is it when the government imposes martial law?
Is it when the government  takes away your firearms?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating the immediate use of force against the government. It isn’t time, and hopefully that time will never come. But one thing is certain:  “Now is the time to rattle your sabers.” If not now, then when?

When the government ignores the First Amendment, it is time to rattle the Second Amendment sabers. It’s all about accountability. So long as our elected officials believe we will rise up and overthrow them under certain conditions, then they will not allow those conditions to occur. Their jobs and their very lives depend on it.

I understand that sounds harsh, but these are harsh times. Now is the time to rattle the saber. Now is the time to answer the very personal, very serious, very intimate question:  “When do I remove the saber from its scabbard?”

I hear the clank of metal on metal getting closer, but that’s not enough. The politicians have to hear it too. They have to hear it, and they have to believe it.

Come and support me at the Second Amendment March on April 19th on the Washington Monument grounds. Let’s rattle some sabers and show the government we’re still here. We are here, and we are not silent!