By KrisAnne Hall, JD

In America, when someone is criticized for kneeling during the national anthem, or when someone speaks a perceived offensive truth, many Americans are quick to aggressively defend our right to freedom of speech as an essential “foundational principle” of America.

There’s no denying the importance of free speech. But too many people apparently forget that America has more than one essential foundational principle.

The Right of the People to keep & bear arms is an essential foundational principle. The Right of the People to be secure in their property from government defined search and seizure is an essential foundational principle. The Rights of the people to due process, a trial by a jury of our peers, and to be secure from cruel punishments are essential foundational principles.

Yet every day, many of the same people so distraught over the loss of free speech, scream for the removal of our essential foundational principle to keep and bear arms.

Every day our federal government violates our right to be secure in our property with searches using fake warrants and seizures through civil asset forfeitures. Yet the vast majority of Americans remain silent about these violations of our essential foundational principles.

Every day Americans are held in government custody in direct violation of our essential foundational principles. Every day federal judges actively and cruelly deny Americans’ Rights contrary to our essential foundational principles.

The frequency and degree to which we neglect all other equally essential foundational principles is baffling. Can you imagine the outrage over a politician fighting to outlaw the word “transgender” because it did not exist at the time of the writing of the Constitution? However, that same argument is used to justify outlawing certain firearms. Many Americans also find similar excuses to justify secret court issued warrants, indefinite detentions, and lawless, arbitrary property seizures.

The neglect of any fundamental principle is extremely destructive to the entire foundation of America. We cannot continue to safeguard one fundamental principle while sacrificing all of the others. We must ensure that all rights for all people are protected in America, not just our personal favorites.

KrisAnne Hall is a former biochemist, Russian linguist for the US Army, and former prosecutor for the State of Florida. KrisAnne also practiced First Amendment Law for a prominent Florida non-profit Law firm. KrisAnne now travels the country teaching the foundational principles of Liberty and our Constitutional Republic. KrisAnne is the author of 6 books on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, she also has an internationally popular radio and television show and her books and classes have been featured on C-SPAN TV. KrisAnne can be found at www.KrisAnneHall.com.