Carole (Greenbriar Rose), and myself "Brad Sherman" (Kingdom Kid), took a break from the campaign trail today to go to the ZnZ Ranch cowboy action shoot, which is one of our favorite activities. We get all dressed up in old west garb and shoot revolvers, lever rifles, and shotguns. What a great time! Now, it’s back to campaign work!
"Our liberties we prize, our rights we will maintain "
-Iowa State motto
"The wisdom of being armed is this: When you have the ability and the will to fight, you usually don’t have to. This reality has been shown in confrontations everywhere, from neighborhood playgrounds to the highest levels of international diplomacy."
-Brad Sherman, Candidate for Governor of Iowa
2nd Amendment rights for Iowans are extremely important. Shooting sports, hunting and living history events are at the heart and soul of my fellow Iowans. I met Brad Sherman in April at a local political meeting, and I found Brad to be very down-to-earth guy. But it wasn't until I saw an online post showing Brad engaged in his hobby, "Cowboy Action shooting." Seeing this I immediately understood more about how Brad viewed America, and American culture. I understand this, because like Brad, I am a living history aficionado, with a particular love for the American wild west. I reached out to Brad and asked him where he stood on historic preservation and the 2nd amendment.
I asked Brad Sherman about his thoughts on the 2nd Amendment
and preserving American history.
Brad's response:
Those are two key issues of mine. In fact, I wrote a little book several years ago called The Freedom Quiz. It asks some questions about freedom and then each brief chapter in the book answers the question. I will copy those two chapters below, but in short, Yes, I am a strong 2nd Amendment Advocate and preserving history is essential to maintaining our freedom.
Regarding history, George Mason said, "If free people do not examine their liberties and how they were obtained, they risk losing those rights." History is what tells us how we obtained liberty and if we want to remain free, we have to know history. But the Bible makes this point as well. Jesus said, in John 8:14, "... My witness is true because I know where I came from (history) and where I am going (future). In other words, we can't have a true and meaningful plan in the present to move toward the future if we don't know our history.
-Brad Sherman
EXCERPTS FROM THE FREEDOM QUIZ
Answering Question #1
1. Which one of the following is most important to preserve freedom in America?
a. A strong standing military
b. Understanding history and the Constitution
c. Good leaders in Washington DC
d. Laws to protect the public from crooks and thieves
All of the answers above play a part in preserving our freedoms, but understanding our history and our Constitution is most important. Besides being the only one of the four that is based in the people, not government, it provides the knowledge base from which we discern whether the leaders in Washington are actually good or not, whether the laws they pass are good or not, and whether or not they are managing the military properly.
George Mason, who is known as the father of the Bill of Rights, was referring to understanding our history and the Constitution when he said, “If free people do not examine their liberties and how they were obtained, they risk losing these rights.”
1 James Madison, the 4th President of the United States and often considered the father of the Constitution, said, “A well-instructed people alone can be permanently free.”
2. The position held by these and many other key founders of our nation is clear. If we the people do not have some level of understanding regarding the content of the most basic governing documents of our nation and the liberties they protect, we risk losing our rights. Consider the following quote by Thomas Jefferson, which emphasizes how important it is for us to understand our government and how it is supposed to function.
“I know of no safe depositor of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”
3. If imparted to enough of our fellow citizens, just the small amount of knowledge presented in this booklet can restore the power to make intelligent choices regarding government and correct many of the abuses that have done damage to our Constitution and our liberty.
Answering Question #7
7. The right to keep and bear arms was spelled out in the Second Amendment so United States citizens could:
a. protect themselves against murderers and thieves
b. fight off invading armies
c. both a and b above
d. resist our own government in the event it grew tyrannical
The Second Amendment says:
“A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The true meaning of this amendment has been tortured and twisted. But by examining this amendment from the perspective of our founders, its meaning becomes clear. Let’s look at a few historical quotes that relate to the Second Amendment. First, a quote from Samuel Adams who said:
“And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress ... to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.”
According to Adams, all law-abiding citizens have the right to keep and bear arms. Some have claimed that individuals do not have the right to their own arms because the militia referred to the military or other armed government agency. But we see that Adams did not hold to that view. Regarding the militia, let’s look at what George Mason, co-author of the Second Amendment said:
“I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”
Mason not only defines militia as the whole population but confirms that individuals have the right to their own arms. Mason leaves no doubt as to the purpose of an armed population; it is to defend themselves against those who would enslave them.
St. George Tucker, a Revolutionary War militia officer, legal scholar, and later a U.S. District Court judge appointed by James Madison in 1813, gives us insight regarding what tyrannical forces were of concern.
“The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.”
In Tucker’s words we find evidence that the right of the people to bear arms is for protection against armed forces of our own government. Standing armies, which today could be defined as professional armed federal agencies, of which we have many, should understand that the people are constitutionally authorized to resist if they overstep their bounds.
The wisdom of being armed is this: When you have the ability and the will to fight, you usually don’t have to. This reality has been shown in confrontations everywhere, from neighborhood playgrounds to the highest levels of international diplomacy.
However, the purpose of my booklet is to deploy a greater weapon than guns, that weapon is knowledge. If we the people are informed regarding the timeless principles that produced our freedom, we will know how to choose leaders who are likewise informed. Our goal is to defeat tyranny with ballots, not bullets.
The CSL&OH.S. would like to personally thank Candidate Brad Sherman for taking time out of his busy schedule to give us his thoughts on history, and the 2nd amendment. We wish Brad success in his run for Governor of Iowa.
-Gene Stevens
Brad Sherman, Iowa, Governor, 2025, Brad Sherman for Iowa Governor
