The idea that the Rights which everyday Americans believe in can be regulated by the Congress is anaethema to some. But remember, the Constitution as written conveyed upon persons of color only the value of 3/5ths of a white man when it came to alloting representatives to Congress and only the value the sale of themselves would bring at a slave mart, as a person.
When we talk about the 2nd Amendment in the 21st century in America, it comes down to two choices now, because of the prevalence of such events and the rising numbers of dead people at such incidences. Either you want to preserve the 2nd Amendment as it is, basically without restrictions (this side pushed for and passed, with the signature of President Trump, a new Law to allow mentally ill Veterans to legally buy firearms) or you want to regulate the Right to “keep and bear arms”. There is no more middle ground.
There really hasn’t been any middle ground on this subject since the televisions screens across America began to flash with the #BreakingNews that 20 small children, aged 6 and 7, had been shot and killed in their elementary school, along with six of their staff and principal, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on December 14, 2012.
That was nearly five years ago now. In the meantime, another 90,000 have died (update: that was as of 2015, which was 3 years after Sandy Hook, and is now with 2 more years gone, that number is likely another 30K...) 100,000 or more Americans have been killed by guns.
This screenshot from www.TheGuardian.com shows graphically how bad it is now:
Between accidents, suicides, homicides and injuries over 100,000 Americans lives are negatively impacted (up to and including death) by firearms EVERY SINGLE YEAR in America. How high must that number reach before the people decide that Community and personal security are BOTH negatively impacted by guns in our country, and choose a better way?So what, are the rest of us supposed to do, just live like this forever?
I think something must change.
Gun regulation is now necessary to ensure the Security of our Free States and our people.
When a single person can become a Weapon of Mass Destruction of Life with legally purchased firearms and ammunition, haven’t we reached the point where it’s time to take another look at the 2nd Amendment?
Did the Supreme Court focus on the wrong words in District of Columbia v Heller?
A well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
In Heller, and in particular Justice Scalia, the court appeared to focus on the words “the right of the people” and “shall not be infringed”.
What if instead they had focused on the words “necessary to the security of a Free State”?
Because if, unlike Scalia and the majority in Heller, we focus on those words as critical and see the rest of the Amendment as in support of that core value?
Then yes, if the security of a Free State rests on the individual citizens “keeping and bearing” arms, the it follows that it IS necessary for the that right to remain un-infringed. Otherwise the people could fall, individually and eventually the Free State would follow.
But what if the security of the Free State is endangered by firearms in the hands of individuals?
Isn’t a single person who is able to be a danger to crowds the size of many small towns in America, with firearms alone, a sign that even a few such persons could put the security of an entire Free State at risk?
Because THAT is where we now find ourselves, after this mind-boggling attack on 22,000 people in Las Vegas.
We have single individuals using firearms to slaughter large numbers of our fellow citizens in minutes. What if the man in Las Vegas had had even five other people with him in that hotel room? Thousands could have died.
Let me repeat — Thousands could have died.
Isn’t it time to re-think the 2nd Amendment and what those words really mean, and how we should act on them?
What if we could reduce the vast numbers of guns loose in America using the very words the NRA has used to unleash god-awful terror on Americans everywhere gun violence has reached out (and that’s a lot of small rural towns in ‘fly-over’ territory now, too) and taken lives from American families?
For the Security of our Free State — to ensure that families can once again attend church, go to a movie, go to a music festival and do so knowing that a man with a high-powered firearm will not be shooting any of them to death.
After all, isn’t THAT why we have a government? To ensure that average, everyday people can go about their daily lives in peace and tranquility….
We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
How about we simply start demanding that the Government ENFORCE the 2nd Amendment and keep our States secure and our people safe — FROM the damned guns.
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I won't be here to discuss, my apologies, but my father passed away last night and I have things to do today because of that.
Please discuss amongst yourselves and I’ll check in later.
— angie
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