Protecting our rights under the Constitution

The subject of our constitutional rights should never be ignored or threatened as they seem to be in these economic times. Our founding fathers had the intelligence and tenacity to place in the Constitution certain rights which they felt each citizen deserves. Congress instead of protecting these rights they are impacting the availability of us utilizing them. The laws and regulations being created by Congress directly impact our rights. It is not just about the laws and regulations passed but those being proposed but decisions being made by Executive Departments and agencies. There seems to be a never ending movement by some of our elected officials to restrict the rights and freedoms we have as defined in the Constitution.

Examples of these actions can be seen through efforts to curtail our rights to bear arms under the 2^nd Amendment. Granted there have been issues with gun violence but it is not the law abiding citizens but the criminals who are causing the problem. Criminals do not care about the law as they pay no attention to it. We as citizens have the right to protect ourselves and that right should never be restricted with certain exceptions the exceptions being individuals who do not have the capability to determine right from wrong. This may be a bold statement to make but all of us have seen the examples where individuals who committed these crimes should never have been allowed to own a gun. One fact which seems to be forgotten in all the discussions is that criminals do not abide by the law. Restricting access to owning a firearm under certain conditions only hurts law-abiding citizens. Background checks are good if they are properly conducted and if not there may be some refusals to permit law abiding citizens to purchase a firearm.

Another example is our freedom of speech. We have the right to our opinion but when it is unpopular there seems to be an effort to deaminize individuals who have a different opinion than what is acceptable to specific individuals. This action comes not only from the government but in some cases from individuals who want to suppress our right to express our opinion.

Our freedom to express our religious beliefs is also under attack and Congress is part of the problem. The Constitution in the 1^st amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting the establishment of religion or the free exercise of religion. The freedom to express our religious beliefs should be protected by the federal government specifically Congress. Have we come to a time where expressing our religious beliefs are so restricted that the rights we have in the 1^st Amendment are in jeopardy.

The next right we have is our right from unreasonable search and seizure. In this area Congress and/or the Executive Branch has been violating this specific right without due process.

We have seen numerous examples such as the IRS and others where the federal government is not protecting this right but they themselves are violating this right. Searches and seizures can take place but there must be probable cause and evidence provided to a judge to grant a search warrant.

There are other rights which have issues under the Constitution and the quantity and issues/actions are too many to cover at this time. Congress has the responsibility to uphold the Constitution and those who are elected must take an oath to support and defend the Constitution. When actions are being taken by groups of individuals to restrict the expression of religious beliefs some action should be taken by Congress which remove the restrictions individuals are facing under the 1^st Amendment. It is uncertain what actions can be taken but something must be done to again provide for exercising the liberties and freedoms we have in the Constitution.