Our All Is At Stake... Concord/Lexington

[Lexington and Concord - The Shot Heard 'Round the World]

by Bob Livingston 
In the early morning hours of April 19, 1775, English Gen. Thomas Gage’s troops moved toward Concord, Mass., in an effort to capture guns, gunpowder and lead stored there.
When they reached Lexington, Mass., those troops were met by about 60 to 70 Minutemen mustered in response to reports the British troops were advancing. The Minutemen were told to stand fast, not firing but not cowering in the face of what was considered the mightiest army of the day.
After making their point, the Minutemen were dispersing and British Maj. John Pitcairn was telling his soldiers to hold their fire when a shot rang out. When the firing ceased, eight Minutemen were dead and nine more were wounded. The British then moved on toward Concord.
In Concord, British troops were met by some 250 Minutemen mustered in response to the shooting at Lexington. Meanwhile, Lexington’s Minutemen were regrouping and moving in behind the British.
Caught between the two forces, seasoned British troopers broke and ran. They were harassed by sniper fire all the way to Charlestown. At the end of the day, 73 British soldiers were dead and 174 were wounded. American losses totaled 49 dead and 39 wounded.
Dr. Joseph Warren, who became an immediate hero for the way he ignored the firing around him and rushed around the battlefield to treat the wounded despite musket balls flying all around him, made a call for volunteers.

"Our all is at stake. Death and devastation are the instant consequences of delay. Every moment is infinitely precious. An hour lost may deluge your country in blood and entail perpetual slavery upon the few of your posterity who may survive the carnage."

Thousands of men responded.


[Second Amendment Rally in front of the State House in Concord ...]

About 140 or so miles southwest of Concord, Connecticut authorities are now plotting about how to deal with that State’s gun owners who have ignored an unConstitutional State law requiring them to register their black guns and extended magazines under penalty of felony.
On Tuesday, a copy of a letter surfaced that was ostensibly from the State’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. The first batch of 100 of the letters is reportedly being sent to noncompliant gun owners, reminding them they missed the Jan. 1 deadline to register their weapons and magazines and giving them one more chance to comply with the law.
The letter gives them the choice of: 1) Rendering the weapon and magazine permanently inoperable, 2) Sell to a licensed gun dealer, 3) Remove the weapon and magazine from the State, or 4) Make arrangements to surrender the weapon and magazine to the State.
Estimates from multiple sources put the number of noncompliant gun owners at about 350,000. If comments on some pro-gun websites are to be believed, thousands more Americans are supporting Connecticut gun owners in their stance and are prepared to go to the State to support them. In other words, Connecticut gun owners are taking a stand much like the one taken Lexington Minutemen.

Connecticut authorities are apparently using the Federal background check database to identify gun owners who have not responded. Gun owners and gun rights supporters have long claimed that background checks and registration are the first steps to confiscation. Evidence that is so is now seen in Connecticut, as well as in New York and California, where guns are being confiscated.
It appears that at some point in the near future, Connecticut law enforcement officers will be ordered out to confiscate weapons. But those LEOs have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution and they are going to have to make a choice. Will they defend the Constitution and ignore unlawful orders at risk of their jobs? Or will they enforce unConstitutional orders handed down by statist politicians and risk starting a bloody confrontation like the one in first Lexington and then Concord?
And if the confrontation does get bloody, will gun owners from other States respond recognizing that, “Every moment is infinitely precious. An hour lost may deluge your country in blood and entail perpetual slavery upon the few of your posterity who may survive the carnage.”