The Second Amendment to the Constitution has come under direct fire recently by anti-Second Amendment activists at both the state and national level. Sadly, much of this debate is erroneously grounded in emotionalism and devoid of empirical data and historical facts. Anti-gun opponents continue to deride pro-Second Amendment policies and supporters, while Americans across the nation are rallying to maintain their right to bear arms. With the federal government continuing to take aim at this inherent constitutional right, it is time to have an honest conversation about the future of Second Amendment rights in America. The first shot fired by Patriots during the American Revolutionary War was known as "the shot heard round the world." The Patriots that selflessly gave their lives to form our new republic understood that self-defense was essential to the preservation and protection of our young nation. A few short decades after the war to secure America's independence from Great Britain, the founders drafted the Second Amendment to the Constitution as part of the United States Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment reads as follows: "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 language is clear as day, but many gun control activists are trying to argue that since there is no longer a militia presence in the United States, there is no need to bear arms. This argument only fuels a false sense of security and misconstrues the Second Amendment's original intentions - A free state's ability to ensure its citizens the right to bear arms is our surest line of defense. Samuel Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and father of the American Revolution, once said, "The Constitution should never be construed to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." In the United States each year, more people die as a result of car crashes and vehicular homicide than gun-related violence. We will discuss these statistics in subsequent columns, but it is important to point out that the instruments themselves are not the cause of death, people are. Congress under the Obama Administration has been quick to push for gun control measures while the underlying issues that cause gun violence are not properly resolved. In effect, the Federal government's proposals to ban or restrict sales or enforce a national gun registry are vain attempts to mask the symptoms of a misguided and increasingly amoral culture. While the emotional tide of gun control has swept the nation thanks to a growing swell of media attention and national tragedies, the voice of the citizens continues to trump efforts to dissolve Second Amendment rights. When Congress recently attempted to enforce burdensome regulations on lawfully abiding gun owners, the American people reacted by petitioning the government against infringing upon their rights to own anything from a dual-barrel shotgun to a fully automatic rifle. This is nothing new, however. The law - and the citizens of this great nation -has always been on the side of protecting our Second Amendment rights. In 2008, the United States Supreme Court clarified the Second Amendment's intent by ruling in favor of an individual's right to keep and bear arms - regardless of whether it's connected with military service or used for lawful purposes such as protecting one's self and family. This landmark court case, known as District of Columbia vs. Heller, "codified a pre-existing right" by extending protections to lawful gun owners. The District of Columbia vs. Heller case was also the first time in U.S. history that a decision was made on whether the Second Amendment allows individuals the right to own and bear arms for self-protection and defense. However, District of Columbia vs. Heller did not specify whether Second Amendment rights were subject to rules or regulations. The preliminary ruling in the case stated that "the right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose". The U.S. Supreme Court recognized that determining concealed weapons carry laws should be left up to the states, but restrictions for convicted felons or the mentally ill should remain intact. This brings us to today. Many states, including Georgia, are considering legislation to reduce complex regulations that seek to erode our rights as law abiding citizens. Now, more than ever, it is time to call your statewide and federal officials about securing 'your' constitutional right to keep and bear arms. I look forward to continuing this discussion in the upcoming weeks and months ahead. I encourage all citizens who are legally eligible to possess a firearm to make your voice heard. It is not simply the National Rifle Association's job to protect our rights, the responsibility is ours. By working together, we can help protect this constitutional right for future generations.

IRVING, Texas — Sang-Moon Bae won the Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, beating Keegan Bradley by two strokes after blowing a four-stroke lead. The 26-year-old South Korean closed with a 1-under 69 to finish at 13-under 267. Bradley was trying to become the Nelson’s first wire-to-wire winner since Tom Watson in 1980. Bradley set the TPC Four Seasons course record with an opening 60 even with two bogeys, but finished with a 72 on a day with wind gusting to near 40 mph at times. Bae already had 11 international victories — winning on the Korea, Japan and Asian tours. Four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine gave Bae a four-stroke advantage in the final group. But he struggled in the middle of the round, making a double bogey at No. 9 and a bogey at the next hole. Bradley, whose first PGA Tour victory came as a rookie at the Nelson two years ago, got even with a birdie at the 15th hole. But he missed a short birdie putt at the next hole to fall behind for good. Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champ, shot a 68 to finish third at 10 under. His only bogey Sunday came at the closing hole, where he hit his approach into a bunker and then hit through the green. Bae won $1.2 million, nearly matching his PGA Tour career earnings of $1.6 million in his 42 previous starts. His best finish on tour had been a tie for second last year after getting into a four-man playoff at the Transitions Championship. Bradley had a couple of incredible par saves on the back nine before finally making his first birdie of the round, a 17-footer that had just enough to get into the cup at the 463-yard 15th hole. That gave him a share of the lead when Bae missed a par putt there from just inside 6 feet. After Bae sank a 5-foot birdie at the par-5 16th hole, and was already walking to the next tee, Bradley had a shorter putt on the same line — it horseshoed around the hole and didn’t fall. The par put Bradley a stroke back with two holes to play, and he then hit his tee shot at the par-3 17th over the green and was unable to save par. That made it irrelevant that he finally had a par at No. 18, the hole he bogeyed the first three rounds. When Bae hit his tee shot at the 17th green that is fronted by water, he watched anxiously and finally let out an obvious sigh of relief, bending his knees and leaning backward when the ball landed on the front edge of the green about 24 feet from the cup. He made the par, and Bradley was unable to scramble again. Players wore red ribbons during the final round in memory of Ken Venturi, the 1964 U.S. Open champion and longtime CBS golf analyst who died Friday. Justin Bolli shot a bogey-free 65 for the best round of the day and matched his career-best finish of fourth. A stroke further back at 272 were Morgan Hoffmann (66), Martin Kaymer (68) and Scott Piercy (72). Tom Gillis, making his 150th PGA Tour start since 1993 and still without a win, started the final round only two strokes out of the lead. But he was already 6-over for his final round after a triple-bogey 7 at the sixth hole. He went on to a 76 and finished tied for 12th. At No. 14, Bradley drove into the left rough between some trees and missed the green before chipping to 5 feet to save par. On the par 3 just before that, his tee shot settled behind the green, but he hit from there to 8 feet and made that putt as well. After Bradley’s opening drive of the day landed in rough near a temporary lemonade stand, he hit over trees and a bunker to 15 feet and save par at the hole he bogeyed each of the first two rounds. His tee shot at the 202-yard second hole went into a bunker, but he made a 6-foot par putt. Bae’s long putt off the back edge of that par-3 green slid just past the cup, causing him to step back and turn around in disbelief. He knocked in a 4-footer that circled the cup before falling. The lead swapped at the downwind, 502-yard third hole when Bradley’s drive went left into the water. He bogeyed while Bae rolled in a 27-foot birdie putt and responded with a double fist pump. Bae built his lead to four strokes with three consecutive birdies, getting to 16 under when he two-putted from 33 feet at the par-5 seventh. One of Bae’s biggest reactions came after he made his par-saving 11-foot putt at the 462-yard eighth hole, where he drove into a fairway bunker and then had to hit back into the fairway before his approach shot. BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES Sunday Final Sang-Moon Bae (500), $1,206,000 66-66-66-69—267 Keegan Bradley (300), $723,600 60-69-68-72—269 Charl Schwartzel (190), $455,600 63-70-69-68—270 Justin Bolli (135), $321,600 69-69-68-65—271 Morgan Hoffmann (100), $244,550 69-71-66-66—272 Martin Kaymer (100), $244,550 68-67-69-68—272 Scott Piercy (100), $244,550 66-68-66-72—272 Charley Hoffman (83), $201,000 68-68-70-67—273 John Huh (83), $201,000 69-64-69-71—273 Graham DeLaet (73), $174,200 67-67-70-70—274 Ryo Ishikawa (73), $174,200 71-68-68-67—274 Ricky Barnes (59), $131,320 68-71-70-66—275 Angel Cabrera (59), $131,320 65-69-70-71—275 Tom Gillis (59), $131,320 69-63-67-76—275 Marc Leishman (59), $131,320 66-70-69-70—275 D.A. Points (59), $131,320 69-68-67-71—275 Harris English (53), $97,150 64-70-68-74—276 Charles Howell III (53), $97,150 67-69-70-70—276 Freddie Jacobson (53), $97,150 68-69-70-69—276 Brendon Todd (53), $97,150 69-68-72-67—276 Jason Bohn (48), $67,000 71-68-69-69—277 Justin Hicks (48), $67,000 69-70-68-70—277 Jerry Kelly (48), $67,000 69-70-66-72—277 Colt Knost (48), $67,000 68-70-71-68—277 Chez Reavie (48), $67,000 69-67-71-70—277 John Rollins (48), $67,000 74-64-70-69—277 Will Claxton (42), $46,565 66-73-69-70—278 Jason Day (42), $46,565 72-68-66-72—278 Brian Harman (42), $46,565 68-69-70-71—278 Ted Potter, Jr. (42), $46,565 64-70-70-74—278 Wes Short, Jr. (42), $46,565 68-71-71-68—278 Jimmy Walker (42), $46,565 68-68-70-72—278 Erik Compton (34), $32,495 72-63-72-72—279 James Driscoll (34), $32,495 67-72-67-73—279 Jason Dufner (34), $32,495 70-70-67-72—279 Nathan Green (34), $32,495 67-68-68-76—279 Matt Kuchar (34), $32,495 69-70-71-69—279 Jeff Overton (34), $32,495 68-70-70-71—279 Ryan Palmer (34), $32,495 65-68-73-73—279 Kenny Perry (34), $32,495 71-69-69-70—279 Marcel Siem, $32,495 68-68-68-75—279 Mike Weir (34), $32,495 68-68-73-70—279 Charlie Beljan (26), $22,110 70-69-72-69—280 Martin Flores (26), $22,110 67-68-71-74—280 D.H. Lee (26), $22,110 68-69-69-74—280 Justin Leonard (26), $22,110 70-70-70-70—280 Rory Sabbatini (26), $22,110 69-71-68-72—280 Stephen Ames (19), $16,363 67-68-71-75—281 Matt Bettencourt (19), $16,363 73-64-72-72—281 Padraig Harrington (19), $16,363 70-70-71-70—281 Steve Marino (19), $16,363 68-69-70-74—281 William McGirt (19), $16,363 68-69-69-75—281 Joe Ogilvie (19), $16,363 68-69-70-74—281 Camilo Villegas (19), $16,363 65-70-71-75—281 Duffy Waldorf (19), $16,363 68-67-73-73—281 Gary Woodland (19), $16,363 69-65-68-79—281 Stuart Appleby (12), $14,807 69-70-68-75—282 Ben Crane (12), $14,807 67-69-73-73—282 Henrik Norlander (12), $14,807 71-67-70-74—282 Cameron Percy (12), $14,807 68-68-69-77—282 Tag Ridings (12), $14,807 68-70-71-73—282 Andrew Svoboda (12), $14,807 69-70-70-73—282 Gary Christian (7), $14,204 69-69-70-75—283 Scott Langley (7), $14,204 71-69-70-73—283 David Mathis (7), $14,204 70-67-73-73—283 John Daly (5), $13,869 71-66-70-77—284 Alexandre Rocha (5), $13,869 67-68-75-74—284 Zack Fischer, $13,601 73-65-71-76—285 Jordan Spieth, $13,601 69-68-73-75—285 Seung-Yul Noh (1), $13,400 68-71-72-78—289 Qualified but did not finish Chad Campbell (1), $12,797 67-72-73—212 Jesper Parnevik (1), $12,797 70-70-72—212 Ted Purdy (1), $12,797 70-70-72—212 Charlie Wi (1), $12,797 73-67-72—212 Brad Fritsch (1), $12,328 69-71-73—213 Pat Perez (1), $12,328 70-69-74—213 Brian Stuard (1), $12,328 71-69-73—213 Tim Herron (1), $11,926 70-70-74—214 Greg Owen (1), $11,926 70-70-74—214 Vijay Singh (1), $11,926 71-67-76—214 Patrick Reed (1), $11,658 67-73-76—216

CONCORD, N.C. — It’s only fitting that Jimmie Johnson’s latest romp through the record books was shrouded in post-race controversy. What’s a Johnson win, after all, without a good conspiracy theory? The latest instance of black helicopters hovering over the Hendrick Motorsports team came in the closing laps of Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race after Johnson headed down pit road in the fourth position for the final stop. A speedy quick four-tire change sent him back onto the track in second and put him in position for his record fourth All-Star race victory. But an error by the television production crew led to an incorrect graphic during the live telecast that claimed Johnson should have lined up much lower in the field going on to pit road. So as the beer and champagne swirled in Victory Lane, angry fans pounced on the inconsistency and argued Johnson should never have been in position for the win. Johnson simply offered a bemused shrug. “I don’t have the slightest clue. People just want to hate,” he said. “That’s fine. I’m just lucky. NASCAR rigs the races and whatever they want to believe. “I’m going home with a cool trophy and a big check and we all really know what happened. So whatever.” Whatever is what the rest of the field was saying after yet another Johnson win at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The five-time NASCAR champion became the first four-time winner of NASCAR’s annual All-Star race, breaking a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt and teammate Jeff Gordon. It was fitting that he did it at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track Johnson, the five-time NASCAR champion, has dominated since his 2002 rookie season. Johnson has won six points races at Charlotte, led more than 1,600 laps and the win in the $1 million Sprint All-Star Race was his second straight, fourth in 12 years. He also won in 2003 and 2006. Now he’ll head back to the track next week for the Coca-Cola 600, a race he won three straight years from 2003-05 when the No. 48 was unbeatable at Charlotte. The rest of the field caught up to him following a repave of the track, and Johnson’s last win in a points race was 2009. “We’ve had decent finishes and been competitive and led laps, but the track is just so different now than it was then, and we had it scienced out,” Knaus said. “We knew literally what time in the afternoon, what the adjustment needed to be made to the car, and it was like clockwork, didn’t matter the year, just every single time. It’s not that way anymore.” But Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have been chipping away, working hard to regain their Charlotte dominance. The speedway is important to Hendrick Motorsports, which is headquartered just minutes away from the track, and to primary sponsor Lowe’s, which is headquartered in nearby Mooresville. “We certainly want to have that magic because winning here in Hendrick’s backyard and Lowe’s corporate offices just up the road, there’s a lot of reasons we want to be good here,” Johnson said. “But more importantly, it’s like we know that we’ve had it, so we feel like we can find it again, and we’re knocking on the door.” With these two weeks of racing at Charlotte circled on the calendar, Knaus, meticulous in his preparation, made three changes to his pit crew in the week leading into the race. It’s not that anything was wrong with the No. 48 team — Johnson has a 44-point lead in the Sprint Cup standings over second-place Carl Edwards — but Knaus thought the team could be stronger. It paid off on the final pit stop — a four-tire change in 11 seconds — and it made the difference in his All-Star victory. “I really didn’t think that we would be able to come down pit road and have a stop that fast, and man, those guys just absolutely nailed it,” Knaus said. “My hat’s off to them. They’ve been working really, really hard trying to improve, and we’ve had to switch some things around during the course of the last month or so and the guys really rose to the occasion. “I’m very, very proud of the effort from everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and everybody with the 48 team and what they’ve been able to accomplish over the course of the last few weeks to improve our pit stops.” That could mean trouble for the competition, especially as Johnson heads into Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600. But that’s a week away, and Johnson wanted to savor Saturday night’s record-making win. It gave him another spot in the history books, and another opportunity to reflect on where he stands in NASCAR lore. Of course, Johnson deferred. “I don’t think it’s a question I have to answer. I still have a lot of years left in my career,” he said. “That’s something the public and masses will have to come up with. I don’t think it’s right for me to sit here and say I’m this guy or the guy. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished and I still feel like there is a lot more I can do in this sport. “I’m working hard to do that and when I’m old and sitting in a rocking chair hopefully people will think highly of what I’ve done and give me a tip of the hat.” Even the haters.