Nicki Fellenzer

Americans who understand the importance of the right to keep and bear arms as a bulwark against tyranny and oppression also understand that this right is a logical consequence of certain natural rights that are endemic to being a human being.

Sir William Blackstone, whose political thought had a great impact on America’s Founding Fathers and the nation they created, acknowledged the existence of these fundamental individual rights in his “Commentaries.”

And we have seen that these rights consist, primarily, in the free enjoyment of personal security, of personal liberty, and of private property. So long as these remain inviolate, the subject is perfectly free; for every species of compulsive tyranny and oppression must act in opposition to one or other of these rights, having no other object upon which it can possibly be employed. To preserve these from violation, it is necessary that the constitution of parliaments be supported in its full vigor; and limits certainly known, be set to the royal prerogative. And, lastly, to vindicate these rights, when actually violated or attacked, the subjects of England are entitled, in the first place, to the regular administration and free course of justice in the courts and law; next to the right of petitioning the king and parliament for redress of grievances; and lastly to the right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defense. And all these rights and liberties it is our birthright to enjoy entire; unless where the laws of our country have laid them under necessary restraints.

Further, Blackstone acknowledged not only the existence of the fundamental rights to life (personal security), liberty and property, but also the right of the people to defend those rights using arms.

However, Blackstone asserted that while not perfect, democracies generally strive to do the right thing, “In a democracy, where the right of making laws resides in the people at large, public virtue, or goodness of intention, is more likely to be found, than either of the other qualities of government. Popular assemblies are frequently foolish in their contrivance, and weak in their execution; but generally mean to do the thing that is right and just, and have always a degree of patriotism or public spirit. …”

The Founding Fathers and those of us who understand the nature of a democracy see this system as a corrupt tyranny, dominated by the many who wield their whip of power over the few, regardless of the objective principles of right and wrong.

Why am I reiterating these facts for the record, when I have stated them a number of times in a number of columns?

Because I have found a kindred spirit, who not only keenly understands these concepts, but advocates their truth in a clear, logical, sometimes ruthless and sarcastically descriptive, but always entertaining manner.

I discovered Ilana Mercer’s writing while perusing WorldNetDaily, and since reading her courageous and (thankfully) politically incorrect 2002 missive on Eminem’s “male bits,” I was hooked. It’s not just because Eminem’s jazzy, lyrical LPs keep me sane (and laughing) on my sometimes two and a half hour or longer daily commute into the DC area, but because Ilana touched upon a simple fact that the lyrics police and their political minions are making every effort to avoid, and which Eminem underscores with style – it is mommy’s and daddy’s responsibility to ensure that their spawn are exposed to age-appropriate entertainment. It is certainly not the state’s job to control the listening habits of America’s youth.

It was this column that kept me coming back to WorldNetDaily weekly to check out Ilana’s witty commentaries. And it was her razor-sharp, skilled and always insightful discourse that prompted me to write Ilana an email one day – a line of communication we have since upheld and expanded into what I am honored to call a friendship.

So when I received Ilana Mercer’s Broad Sides in the mail a few days ago, I was thrilled and anxious to read the compilation of essays about a variety of subjects – everything from political commentary to discussions on popular culture, music and current events.

I wasn’t disappointed. Ilana has a keen understanding of the dangers of democracy, and begins her discourse with a doleful, but accurate pronouncement: “That we were once a republic and now a social democracy makes clear that the Constitution has not halted this progression. The Constitution has, for all intents and purposes, been destroyed.” This understanding is essential to any patriot who seeks to protect our fundamental rights – the rights the Founding Fathers understood, accepted as ultimate realities and sought to protect.

In order to understand why the right to keep and bear arms is crucial to a free society, it is first essential to realize that true freedom cannot coexist with coercion – even if said coercion is perpetuated by a majority rule – democracy. By its very nature, democracy is mob rule – the many imposing their will on the few. And by its very nature, democracy is inconsistent with freedom. In a democracy your rights can be trampled by a simple majority vote – without regard for objective, moral principles of right and wrong. And as Ilana astutely explains in her razor-sharp condemnation of Tony Blair’s Britain, “A right that can’t be defended… is a right that exists only in name.”

Ultimately, this is the simple and crystal clear reason why the right to keep and bear arms is the most vital right we must fight to retain – because without it, we are truly at the mercy of thugs, be they criminal, government or the uninformed, uneducated hordes who trudge to the polls each election cycle to see how much largesse they can pilfer from the public by simply pulling the “right” lever in the voting booth.

While Broad Sides addresses briefly the specific right to keep and bear arms, the book focuses on freedom and the one ultimate duty of every individual to maintain and safeguard freedom – personal responsibility. Whether condemning the state for claiming children as state property, destroying the family unit and usurping the rights of parents and censuring parents who refuse to be held accountable for the lazy, petulant, self-indulgent runts they have raised…

Whether condemning the government for imposing “information socialism” on the public, forcing a level playing field in capital markets – where none was meant to exist – and prosecuting those who dare glean an advantage where the state has proclaimed there should be none…

Whether denouncing pseudo-psychological hacks and quacks for taking personal responsibility out of the equation for criminals…

…Or helping tear down the statist attempts to deify Abraham Lincoln as part of an indoctrination campaign to tear down the moral character of this nation and promote a tyrant as a hero…

…Ilana’s musings are always stylish, never dull, and inexorably logical. She writes with passion – passion for freedom, for individual sovereignty and for personal responsibility. She writes with the ardor of one who yearns for something that is just out of reach. She battles tyranny, oppression, ignorance and statism with every sentence, and she wields each word like a weapon against those who would deprive us of our rights.

Ilana has known socialism. She has lived through it, fought to escape it and is fighting against it with the tenacity of a warrior and the clarity of crystal. She leaves no stone unturned in defense of freedom and spares no popular statist principle from excoriation in her effort to preserve and restore our rights. In Broad Sides she shares with her readers rational, logical and factual arguments with which she battles the morally corrupt precepts which permeate our culture and destroy our freedom.

In a column describing Broad Sides, Ilana asserts her collection of essays offers “a wide-ranging exploration of contemporary life through the filter of timeless principles – principles that led to the West's ascendancy, and whose neglect has led to its disastrous decline.” And as a fellow warrior, I salute her efforts.

Nicki Fellenzer ~ Armed Females National Spokesperson

Nicki is a US Army veteran, who spent nearly four years in Frankfurt, Germany on active duty at the American Forces Network. She is a former radio DJ and news anchor and a Featured Writer and Newslinks Director for Keepandbeararms.com. She is also a former contributing editor to the National Rifle Association's newest monthly magazine, Women's Outlook and she is currently the contributing editor to Concealed Carry Magazine and writes occasionally for the Libertarian Party. She resides in Virginia with her family. We are also proud to have Nicki as regular contributor to Armed Females of America and to speak for Armed Females on our position against gun control and freedom issues.

Copyright © 2004 by Armed Females of America. All rights reserved. Permission to redistribute this article for noncommercial purposes is hereby granted, provided that it is reproduced unedited, in its entirety and appropriate credit given.