Today, July Third, I’m honoring the Fourth by devoting this space to the Second — Amendment, that is. I’m celebrating one of the most important rights detailed in the Constitution. The right to bear arms is an essential aspect of our freedom.

The Second means the right to buy, sell, use and carry an entirely legal product that liberals — like Maryland officials — don’t like. That right got a boost last week as the Supremes (the justices, not the singers) finally settled that gun ownership is an individual right.

The court waded through years of legal opinions and commentary. They could have saved time. They could have asked the owner of a Charles Village dry cleaner who had to shoot a robbery suspect recently. That’s one of the basic reasons why people want guns — to protect themselves, their businesses and what they own from thugs. Thugs never seem to have a problem breaking any law. They mock gun laws just like they mock laws about theft or hurting people.

Like millions of Americans, I am a strong believer that the right way to ensure our freedom is to guarantee our ability to fight back — against intruders, robbers or anyone who seeks to harm us.

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But because we live in Maryland, we have an authoritarian system of gun control designed to take away our rights and protect us from ourselves. According to the Brady Campaign, Maryland limits gun ownership in 18 out of 25 ways the group tracks. That includes making the No Longer Free State one of only a few that’s that does not allow right-to-carry laws. The Brady group is wildly anti-gun, so they must love Maryland.

They love D.C. even more. Our nation’s capital scammed its citizens for years with an unconstitutional law limiting gun ownership. Then they didn’t back down even after the Supremes sang them a sad song about local fascism. D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray (D-No Surprise) vowed to create the “strictest” gun law they can sneak past the court.

That’s the way a Third World government reacts to citizens who dare exercise their freedoms. That same mind-set is the one that wants to take away tobacco, limit the food you eat and raise carbon taxes to control how much oil you use. Most of those ridiculous regulations have a Big “D” somewhere near the name of the sponsor.

Hopefully, you are celebrating with me. If not, imagine any other right being limited the same way D.C. tried with guns. I couldn’t write this column perhaps, because The Powers That Be don’t like what I write. Or maybe you couldn’t go to church Sunday because you worship at the wrong place. Or we couldn’t speak out in public or vote or run for office.

Protecting the Second protects all those other rights and ensures we have the ability to fight for ourselves and our rights if the time comes.

Enjoy the Fourth, but don’t forget the Second.

Dan Gainor can be seen each week on Friday afternoons on the new Fox

Business Network. He can be reached at gainorcolumn@gmail.com.