The importance of the Second Amendment was hailed last week from an unlikely source- Hollywood. CBS’s post-apocalyptic thriller series ‘Jericho’, in which over twenty American cities had been destroyed in an atomic attack by terrorists, ended its run last week with an explosive conclusion to the series, as well as an important message about the Second Amendment.

The second season of the series began with a new, fascist government based in Cheyenne, Wyoming claiming control over the former United States west of the Mississippi River. When one of the central characters was invited to represent the town of Jericho, Kansas at a new constitutional convention in Cheyenne, he lamented just how easily the shadowy government had dispensed with the right of Americans to own guns in the name of law and order.

“It’s a lot easier to pacify a country when its citizens can’t shoot back,” responded Jericho mayor Gray Anderson when another convention attendee noted how after only a few round table discussions and a luncheon the Second Amendment had been effectively purged from the new constitution for Cheyenne’s Allied States of America.

But whether explicitly, as in this episode, or implicitly as in others the importance of the right to keep and bear arms has been a major theme of ‘Jericho.’ The end of the first season saw a rival town effectively declaring war on Jericho and Jericho’s citizens defending themselves from the aggression.

But while the apocalyptic scenario ‘Jericho’ paints is an extreme and unlikely one, the point of the Second Amendment as a doomsday clause is well taken. The founding fathers in their wisdom included the Second Amendment because they knew that there are times and places where civil authority and law and order break down, and when this happens citizens must have the right to defend themselves. America witnessed this first hand only a few years ago in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Would any sane person want to be caught in the middle of that catastrophe unarmed? And while ‘Jericho’s fictional Cheyenne government sought to take away guns from Americans, there was nothing fictional about New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin’s policy of confiscating firearms from law abiding citizens in the interests of ‘law and order.’

Sadly CBS has decided to cancel ‘Jericho’ but there is hope that the show may find another network or see a new life in DVD, books, or some other venue in which the story may be continued. Our hats are off to the cast, crew, and creative team behind this first rate show and wish them all much luck in the future. Hopefully more television programs and films will have the guts to teach the importance of the Second Amendment.

Submitted by ckc on Sun, 03/30/2008 - 20:27.

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