U.N. Protest Raly Speech

The SECOND AMENDMENT SISTERS, Inc. came about when a group of women decided they had enough: Enough
of the distortion, enough of the misrepresentation, enough of the reproach from the anti-Second Amendment crowd.
Learning of the Million Mom March (currently the Bell Campaign, now merging with Handgun Control, Inc.) was
the last straw.

These ladies are what's real about our country, folks! They organized at the grassroots level with no help from anyone (not even the NRA) to help protect the Constitutional rights of us all. They are all unpaid volunteers, standing in the gap against those who seek to erode our Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms, and they deserve all of our support! Please visit them on the Web at www.2asisters.org - I know you'll be impressed with them as we were!

Boge Quinn

U.N. PROTEST RALLY SPEECH

JULY 14, 2001
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
New York City, NY
By Maria Heil
Second Amendment Sisters

Opening Remarks-Second Amendment Sisters (SAS) was founded by five very brave, patriotic women who where communicating with each other on the Internet via FreeRepublic.com. For those of you who do not know, Free Republic.com is a Conservative News Forum on the Internet. It can be found at www.freerepublic.com. People who post on that forum are known as FReepers!

A little over sixteen months ago my husband told me I should find the website for this Pro Gun Women's group he had heard about on the radio. So, during the Internet search the Million Mom March website popped up. From now on, I will only refer to them as the MMM-because they were not a million, they were not all Moms and they did not march, except in front of the TV cameras. Well, I had heard about them, but didn't know what they were all about, so I started reading their website. When I saw "…regardless of the interpretation, the second amendment is irrelevant." That was when I KNEW their true agenda was NOT protecting children, but rather they were targeting our Second Amendment rights. Sixteen months ago I "stepped up to the plate" and became the Pennsylvania State Coordinator for the Second Amendment Sisters. I am now the National Press Coordinator/Spokesperson.

Body of Speech-When I started with SAS I really didn't know all that much about what was going on. My husband had introduced me to guns. I had my Concealed Carry Permit. I had no cause to worry about my right to self-defense. But, then I became educated by more or less a total immersion in the facts. Always, always look for the facts, never take what anyone presents as "the facts" to be the truth, always go to the source. I have found out that the facts overwhelming on are on "our" side. The facts bear out the truth of what WE are saying.

I love it when I'm debating someone from the anti-rights groups and I've got them nailed on the facts. They have no way to counter the facts! Then they resort to, "Well, I know that what I say is the truth!" I call that their "Don't Confuse Me With The Facts" defense.

SAS was established in direct response to the MMM and their Mother's Day Rally in Washington, DC in 2000. The main focus of SAS those first four months was to hold a counter rally at the same time as the MMM. SAS is a true grassroots effort-to my knowledge the first to organize entirely on the Internet! We were "born" on the Internet, we were organized on the Internet, and we continue to be an Internet Organization. No one in our organization really met until just two nights before our Armed Informed Mothers Rally and March in DC in May 2000. We are not an offshoot of the NRA. We are not associated with any other organization. We do not get money from any other organization. We are, at this point in time, an all unpaid volunteer organization. We get our money from memberships, donations, and sales of items with our name on it. By the way, we now have an on line store on our website-check it out! Our website is very easy to remember, it's www.2asisters.org.

SAS puts a whole new face on the so-called "gun debate". I say "so-called" because it's not really about guns; it's really about our right to self-defense. Boiled down, that's what it's all about, whether or not we, as citizens of the United States of America, will be able to continue to LEGALLY defend ourselves from enemies foreign and domestic. I stress LEGALLY because we have the individual right to keep and bear arms whether or not it is written down and allowed by a government. I believe that the basic human right of self-defense is a God given right. For those of you who question God, then you may see it as a right since the existence of man, and you know what? You have every right to believe that because we live in the United States of America, and you still have your 1st Amendment Rights!

Some governments on this planet today profess to be supporters of human rights, yet they do not allow their citizens to have the most basic of human rights, the right to self-defense. These same governments are now trying to restrict the right to self-defense of the citizens of the United States of America in the name of ending the violence and killing. Their tactic is nothing new; we've seen it all too often here in the United States.

Second Amendment Sisters is "no compromise" when it comes to the Second Amendment, our basic human right to self-defense. There is no room to compromise with someone who is beating you with a baseball bat. There is no room to compromise with a gun wielding man who has just driven through the front window of the cafeteria where you are having lunch with your parents. There is no room to compromise when a naked man with a pitchfork cuts your phone line and breaks into your home. There is no room to compromise when your ex breaks into your mother's home, intent on harming both of you. There is no room to compromise when an ex-boyfriend is stalking your 17-year-old daughter. There is NO ROOM TO COMPROMISE OUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS, OUR BASIC HUMAN RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE.

Other governments have compromised their citizens/subjects basic human right to self-defense. In knee jerk reactions many countries have disarmed their people, and now they are dealing with incredible rises in crime, because, guess what? The criminals haven't disarmed, and they know that chances are pretty good that their intended victim is not armed! According to the Home Office- England has only has one quarter of the population of the US, but they now have 75% more rapes than the US!

The anti-rights groups, you know, the now essentially non-existent MMM, (they announced they were joining with the United Nations to become the Billion Mom March-do the math! That's laughable! We'll just call them the BM's. They also have joined or rolled into the former Handgun Control Inc, now called the Brady something or other.). Anyway, the anti-rights groups such as the BM's, HCI, Pax, Cease-Fire, Silent March etc…all claim that in these countries where legal self-defense with a gun has been taken away, gun murders and suicides have dropped. Well, yeah, GUN murders and GUN suicides have dropped, but the overall murders and suicides have either remained the same or increased! Let me spell that out for any of the anti-rights people-THOSE INTENT ON DOING HARM ARE USING OTHER MEANS and still the end result is the same!

Let me tell you about what can happen when people have there right to legal self-defense taken away. (As I said before, they still have the right; it's just that their government has made it illegal). In late 1937 and on into early 1938 the Rape of Nanking, or the Nanking Massacre happened. This was during the Sino-Japanese War; the Japanese had captured Shanghai and were about to capture Nanking. The Chinese forces retreated from Nanking, leaving the civilians defenseless, as well as leaving behind nearly 15,000 surrendering Chinese Soldiers. The Japanese exterminated the nearly 15,000 Chinese soldiers. But it is what happened to the women in Nanking that is even more horrifying. The occupying army systematically gang-raped and abused every female, no matter the age. This is what comes from only a government having firearms. More people were killed in the Nanking Massacre than the American armed forces lost during battle in ALL of World War II. Some people will say, "Well that was war!" I will say, "No, that was the massacre of hundreds of thousands of unarmed men, women, and children." Yes, war is a nasty business. The Nanking Massacre is merely one of many examples, some in more modern times, of what can be perpetrated on masses of unarmed people. Governments take away the most effective tool of self-defense, in the name of public safety, all the while promising to protect it's citizens/subjects. Yes, what happened at Nanking is a larger scale event, but smaller scale events are happening now, around the world. Governments, for one reason or another cannot protect their people, and they have taken away all means by which the people can protect themselves! Is it any wonder that crime is on the rise in disarmed nations? Is it any wonder that genocide is alive and well on this Earth today?

The Constitution of the United States is a contract with the States; the Bill of Rights is a contract with the people. For those of you who may be a little unclear, the Constitution was not ratified until there was a promise of a Bill of Rights to address the rights of the people. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution and were all adopted at one time. The Bill of Rights is a written promise to the Citizens of the United States of America that the government will always respect the rights, which we have as human beings, it does not confer those rights, it respects those rights.

People are literally dying to get into the United States of America. Ask yourself, why is this? The United States enjoys more freedoms than any other country on earth. The United States has the highest standard of living than any other country on Earth. On a scale of 1 to 10, compared to any other country, the United States of America is a 10!

If the citizens are disarmed, the criminals will then have the advantage. Women, the handicapped, and the elderly will then become the victims of choice for many criminals.

ANY law or treaty or anything that denies law-abiding citizens the right to keep and bear arms essentially denies them the right to self-defense. Women in particular, should pay attention to ANY law that could render them defense-less. Men and women are different-we are made that way! For the most part men are stronger than most women. A man could easily kill a woman with his bear hands. When women are allowed to choose to carry a gun, women have equality. Take away a woman's right to self-defense and you have imposed upon all women a possible death sentence. You would be setting back women's right hundreds of years. Women would then be at the mercy of any bully. Granted, rape and murder are illegal, but there are people who still do it. The most effective means of prevention of rape and murder is when a woman is carrying a gun. It has been estimated that 550 times each and everyday in the United States, a woman prevents a rape by use of a handgun. Think about that, that's WITH women being allowed, for the most part to carry a gun. How many more rapes will be attempted simply because the rapist knows that his victim will not be armed?

Waiting periods for guns are killing women. Women who are being stalked first learn that there is nothing the police can legally do to stop this, secondly they learn that the police can not be their bodyguards, police have NO legal obligation to protect the individual citizen, and finally, they learn, all too late, that a Protection From Abuse order is merely a piece of paper that allows the police to charge the subject with an additional violation. Case in point, just last month a woman who had a PFA and was on the phone with 911 was killed while still on the phone. Did having a PFA or calling 911 save her life? Absolutely not! Women need to be able to protect themselves and their families. Disarming citizens merely puts women at greater risk for robbery, assault, rape and even murder. Look at the women in the countries that are trying to disarm us in the name of protecting us. Do they enjoy the degree of freedom we do? Do the have the degree of equality we do?

A woman has to depend upon herself for protection. The police cannot be there, her father, her brother, her boyfriend, or husband all cannot always be there to protect her. Are we willing to trade the right every women should have to self-defense in exchange for so-called governmental security? Are you willing to subject your wives, daughters, mothers, and aunts, to the mercy of rapists? Because that's what it boils down to.

I've run into men who have taken an anti-gun stance. When I ask them what will they do when someone breaks into their house, and they are home, I get the same answer time and time again, " I will let them take whatever they want." There are two problems with this answer-#1 They are assuming that they are still in control, when they say, "I will". They are not in control; the criminal is in total control if you have no means by which to defend yourself. #2 They are assuming that the only reason the criminal is there is to take "things". They cannot accept the fact that the criminal may be there to rape their wife or daughter. If someone breaks into my house while I am there, I certainly don't plan on sitting down and discussing things with him. You assume they are there to do harm to you or your family. They don't belong there and you have a right to defend yourself and your family, unless the most effective means of self-defense has been denied to you. This denial of rights has happened in many large cities throughout the United States. These cities also happen to now enjoy the highest crime rates in the United States. Detroit, Chicago, Washington DC, and New York City who account for 20% of all murders in the United States!

I was recently in Chicago where I had a rather heated discussion about guns and self-defense with one of my brothers. Once I confronted him with the facts and figures he asked, "Where did you get those numbers from?" I answered, "From the FBI, BATF, the CDC, and the National Health Institute (?)" His retort was, "Those don't mean anything. I see it in the papers and on TV everyday!" and then he walked away. It didn't dawn on me until much later, of course he sees it EVERY DAY, he lives next to Chicago and Oak Park!

The residents of the City of Chicago are no longer allowed to defend themselves by the most effective means available. The same holds true for the Village of Oak Park. I spent my childhood in Oak Park, Illinois. I loved it there! It was a great place to grow up. Now, it has disarmed its residents and crime is rampant. It's not a safe place anymore. The Oak Park I knew in the 60's does not exist anymore, for many reasons. They say you can never go back, well, I do occasionally drive through the old neighborhood, but only in daylight and with all the doors locked, because, you see, I have no legal right to defend myself by the most effective means possible in Oak Park, IL.

Unfortunately, this is happening in places across the United States. Even entire states are making it very difficult for citizens to legally defend themselves. But, let me make this absolutely clear, it is NOT the majority of the people who are willing to submit to the clearly anti-self defense interests of the few. The anti-self-defense groups happen to get more mainstream media coverage, thus making it APPEAR that the majority of Americans want these restrictions on our rights. Appearances can be deceiving.

You have to understand, the media is a business, and they must make a profit in order to continue. So, sensational stories get more coverage. If it bleeds, it leads, and leads, and leads, and leads, ad nauseum. Stories such as the elderly neighbor lady who held a male intruder at gunpoint until the police arrived, never even make it into the local newspaper!

I am a Mom, my husband and I have four children between the ages of 8 and 13. We think the United States of America is the best nation on Earth, and we know that only eternal vigilance will keep it that way. Seventeen months ago I never would have thought that I would be a National Spokesperson for such a fine and Patriotic organization, nor speaking here today to all of you. Life is truly unpredictable!

In these past sixteen months I have had the honor to meet some of the greatest Patriots of the 21st Century (I think I stole that term from Charlton Heston). I have met such people as Juli Bednarzyk, Deb Wasilewski, Mari Thompson, Kim Watson, Dianne Sawyer (with 2 "n"s in Dianne)-all Founders of the Second Amendment Sisters, John Lott-author of More Guns Less Crime, I have met Joseph Tartato and his daughter Peggy-from Second Amendment Foundation, Alan Gottlieb and his wife JuliAnn-from Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America, Sheriff Richard Mack-who took the Brady Bill all the way to the Supreme Court and won, Kenn Blanchard, author of Black Man with a Gun, Wayne LaPierre, James Jay Baker, Susan Howard, Marion Hammer, Tanya Metaksa and others all from the NRA, Charlton Heston-who told our Dianne Sawyer, "You guys keep doing what you're doing!" The people who put together "Concord 2000 and the Rally in the Valley", Poker Face, Aaron Kait of Jews USA, J.J. Johnson of the Sierra Times, Neal Knox, Paxton Quigley author of Armed and Female, Senator Larry Craig, Representative Bob Barr, J. Neil Shulman-author of "Self-Control, not Gun Control", Rick Mase and Phil Longden of TRT, Jim Clymer and others from the Constitution Party, and many, many others who are out there everyday working to keep our Second Amendment Rights, and the Freedoms it guarantees, intact.

I have mentioned these names to show you that it is not just the NRA that is standing up for our right to keep and bear arms; it is a cross section of America. We don't all have the same way of going about it, but we are all making a difference. Differences in how we are doing it, yes, but what brings us all together is our PASSION to protect our Second Amendment Rights, which, when you look at it is the key to all our other rights, including the right to free speech under the First Amendment! The Second Amendment is the backbone of the Bill of Rights and it's the Bill of Rights, which supports our Constitution. The people who want to take away our Second Amendment Rights know this, and so do we!

Okay, now what can you do? Do what you can! There is always room for you to do more. Look at me, I had no time to be an activist 17 months ago, I still have no time, but I am doing it! Write to your Congress-people, write to your State Representatives, write to your newspapers, call people, volunteer for a Pro Second Amendment Candidate, become a Candidate, get involved! Ask your friends if they are registered to vote, if they are not, give them voter registration forms. Join as many Pro-Second Amendment organizations as you can afford! You don't have to be Jewish to join Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, nor do you have to be a woman to join the Second Amendment Sisters-which I highly recommend everyone here today do! If you have extra money, donate it! (Hopefully to SAS-wink, wink).

Bottom line is, start acting like Citizens of the United States of America! We are blessed beyond belief in the country, but blessings need attention, or they will no longer exist!

I call on each one of you here today, those within the sound of my voice, and those reading my words to become Patriots of the 21st Century! You are citizens of the greatest nation on Earth, be proud and protect it.

Thank you, and "Happy Trails!"

Maria Heil

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