“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.“ – Second Amendment, Constitution of the United States of America
America – Let us deal with the phrase “…being necessary to the security of a free State…” eventhough millions of you only focus on the phrase “…the right of the people to keep and bear Arms…” At one point in time everything was critical in the development of this nation state from an occupied colonial state to an independent democratic nation state. Today, this nation state is at war with itself. It is in battle against reasonable, progressive gun control public policy safety measures and a capitalistic, corrupted misuse of the Second Amendment. Look, I am a History Educator in Public Education so let’s have the authentic historical conversation. When the Second Amendment was broadly written, this colonial state was under British indirect rule with no standing military to defend itself. Of course every American citizen who were still citizens of Great Britain who were seeking to end “taxation without representation” had no other option but to “take up arms, bear arms” against the oppressive monarchy who had no economic desire to allow this colonial state to exist as it’s own independent state.
The “right to bear arms” granted citizens the means, right to defend, protect itself from foreign entities who seek to overtake, suppress the independent “State” from its infancy to its point of sovereign self sufficiency. Each citizen and even those enslaved had to take up a weapon to fight for this nation’s independence from the supressive economic indirect rule imposed by Great Britain. Even after the “War of Independence” – the everyday citizen had to be pressed into “military service” to defend itself while the Continental Army, Navy and Marines were being established along side the Constitution, the development of federal and state government meant to protect and serve in a manner so that the everyday citizen would not be responsible for the macro-management of national, state and local defense. America, you cannot apply the challenging demands of the 17th and 18th Century of the development of a nation state from colonial rule into the evolving, progressive 20th and 21st Century reality of a seeming democratic nation state where laws and public policy can progressively change to better society.
Somehow, some way after the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts – the Second Amendment phrase “the right to bear arms” turned into a capitalistic, economic for profit “don’t touch this electrified third rail of public policy” set in stone edict. At one point, no one could buy an assault rifle nor paramilitary semiautomatic and or automatic weapons legally. That all seemed to change back in the 1980s into the 1990s. Not exactly sure who came up with the disastrous notion to remove assault weapons ban. This has opened up the deadly floodgates this nation has been experiencing since the 1980s. With this change, so too has America’s increased propensity of gun violence. It can be statistically tracked and the data verified that there is a direct correlation to mass shootings and acts of domestic terrorism due which the access and availability to guns which can kill multiple people within in minutes, inflicting a high mass casualty rate.
It is 2022 America. We are not at war with each other from city to city, cost to coast. We fighting for our right to live free with our own democracy and government intact in the midst of urban to rural combat zones. Martial law is not in effect. America is not being attacked by a foreign nation state which has neutralized our armed forces. There is absolutely no need for any citizen to have in their home paramilitary weaponry more powerful than law enforcement, the military. Even those in the military will tell you the AR-15 [they designated the weapon as a M-4], is designed for one purpose – to kill the target in front of the shooter with maximum effect by striking the target with one or two rounds which will either sever limbs or instantly kill the target center mass.
While I may be in favor of the Second Amendment eventhough I do not own a gun. I am also in favor of a universal through background check [criminal and mental], strict training regulations, ‘Red Flag Laws (let’s all be honest with ourselves – everyone does not need to gain access nor be allowed to own a weapon and definitely not assault weapons, you know who those persons are, how they are and why ownership could pose a danger for themselves and others)’ and an assault weapons ban. Even those in the arena of law enforcement and national military have to go through extensive tactical training and mental evaluation to ensure they fully capable and cognizant of this life and death instrument they are using in their hands.
Can we stop ‘paralyzing this public policy matter with dysfunctional partisan political rhetoric. This is not a ‘left versus right,’ ‘liberal versus conservative’ debate. Last time I checked a bullet fired from paramilitary semiautomatic and or automatic weapon does not check its intended target for its ‘political viewpoint.’ No, the bullets fired from these weapons are tasked to either injure and or kill without prejudice. This is a national public policy matter which needs to be addressed in a consistent, uniform manner. There are more weapons than citizens in America. We have to examine this matter with both an objective morality lens and clear public safety policy legislation. We have to admit to ourselves and affirm to each other this nation state is one who has been mentally weaponized since its inception.
This is not a “States Rights Issue” on individual gun ownership. If this is the case – citizens should only need a semiautomatic handgun with limited capacity [10 round magazine max], shotgun with limited capacity [5 to 7 round max] and hunting rifle with limited range [5 to 7 round max]. There is absolutely no need for any citizen to possess a paramilitary weapon capable of holding over 20 rounds, capable to have double cartridge ability meaning one person would fire off over 40 rounds before reloading, killing everyone in their sight within minutes before a non-lethal to lethal response can stop this attack. This is a national public safety matter which requires federal government oversight and uniform federal government legislation to protect its citizens from harming each other.
More people have died due to gun violence, mass shootings, acts of domestic terrorism involving guns over the past 10 to 20 years than those military servicemen and servicewomen serving in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. It defies all logical thought, judical reasoning that this has not been resolved with balanced, practical approach. This is not a nation of absolute zero sum decisions. It is possible to have meaningful, progressive gun control policy legislation and responsible gun ownership to stop this level of violence against its own citizens. Enough is Enough. Included with this blog, I attached a legal explanation of The Second Amendment and the judicial interpretation of this misunderstood amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
Explaining The Second Amendment –
https://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment2.html
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