Where does government authority...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

4. I get that

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Since the powers of government derive from the united consent of the people, those same powers and authority must necessarily be native to and innate in the individuals themselves.

Therefore, the authority of the government to protect society from criminal activities derives from the personal authority to defend one's own person, family and property from those same criminal activities.

I then submit that laws which negate or unduly impair that individual right should be abolished.