The Police Are Not Constitutionally Bound To Protect You
I was doing some surfing on the Internet and ran across a story entitled, “2005 SCOTUS Ruling: Police Not Constitutionally Bound to Protect Citizens” as a support piece for why Common Citizens need guns. While I don’t feel that I need anything other than the 2nd Amendment to authorize me to bear arms, the story caught my eye because I am a member of Oathkeepers, which is an organization that commits to supporting the sacred oath that is taken when an individual becomes a peace officer or a member of the US military.
For those that have done neither or have forgotten, due to time or other distractions:
Oath of Enlistment
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
Officers Oath
I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God
Common to both oaths are the words, “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same“, and this is the premise of the duties of the sworn peace officer and military member. Notice that there is no part of the statement that alludes to a specific time period. The fact is that if you have taken this oath, you have sworn to that statement for Life.
So, I took the time to take a look at Supreme Court case Castle Rock v. Gonzales, No. 04-278 and the June 28, 2005 NY Times article that covered the case. In this case, Jessica Gonzales had a restraining order stating that her estranged husband, Simon, had to be outside a 100 yd. radius of her and her three children’s home. When he violated that order, kidnapped and killed the children, aged 7,9, and10, and attacked the Castle Rock police station, gun blazing, only to get himself killed in the process, the apparent “non-action” by the police came into question. The case was brought to the SCOTUS because the Castle Rock police were being sued for not acting on Ms. Gonzales’ repeated phone calls to arrest Mr. Gonzales and reunite her with her children.
The SCOTUS overturned a previous District Court ruling that allowed her lawsuit to be brought to the courts. The reason stated by the dissenting Justices had to do with the definition of process as it was applied in Colorado domestic violence laws. While process had not been completed by the time Mr. Gonzales, albeit violently, arrived at the police station to be arrested, this was not, in SCOTUS’ eyes, reason to state that Ms. Gonzales’ “property rights” had been violated. In short, SCOTUS decided that the police are NOT constitutionally bound to protect Citizens. So much for “Serve and Protect”…
This is not a dig on the law enforcement entities of our Country; they don’t make the laws, they only enforce them and they are very good at solving crimes once they have been committed. But this is just another example of how Common Citizens need to be more pro-active, more self-sufficient, and more accountable for their own safety and the safety and protection of their family and property.
This also amplifies something that I saw written somewhere out in Cyberspace: “Laws do not keep crime from being committed. They exist to provide a means of punishment should an individual decide to commit a crime.” [paraphrased] Crime prevention is an internal, individual effort and because crime requires two parties (the criminal and the victim), every one of us is responsible and accountable to be neither the criminal (ethics/integrity/honesty) or the victim (training/awareness/countermeasures). While the 2nd Amendment is tied to helping us keep our Oath as it applies to our Country, it also helps us on an individual basis from not becoming the victim of those that choose to be criminals. All this, without relying on the very law enforcement entities that are not constitutionally required to protect us anyway, even if they could.
Think For Yourself. Get armed, get trained, don’t become a victim.
