Apparently in this country, there are only two sides of the gun control issue. You are either on the one where you want to take all the guns from all citizens unconditionally, or you are on the one where you absolutely need your high powered military style assault rifles with 30+ ammunition clips in them. And there is no in between. Seriously? Has the entire nation lost the ability to think critically on even a most basic level?! Some people, like myself are looking at the mass shootings that have happened in this country just in the past year alone saying "We have got to do something about this." while others feel the need to cry out in protest over their Second Amendment rights. But I can't help but wonder, how many of these people, on both sides, even know what the Second Amendment of the constitution really states. Let's go back to elementary school social studies, shall we?
The Second Amendment states:
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.
Ok, a "well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state..." States need security, right? Is this "well regulated militia" dedicated to the security of any given state a gang of armed civilians which patrol borders and neighborhoods avenging evil like some kind of superheroes? No. That "well regulated militia" would be what we know in the present day to be the state police. But the true issue that has everyone's panties in a bunch is the second half of the amendment. "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Some people consider this unconditional. People should be able to bear arms, no matter what kind or how many. Well, let's look at when this was written. It was 1791, and you had to defend yourself. There were no state, or sometimes even local police. It was a different time, and there were different guns. Back then, you would hope and pray that your attacker did not take you out while you spent the minutes that it took to load one round into a musket and fire it. And if you did fire it, unless you were a very good shot, the person on the other end of that musket was more likely to die from infection in the wound or lead poisoning from the ammunition, than from the gunshot itself. It was not like it is today, in the year 2013, when you can buy an assault rifle and shoot 30 rounds in barely the blink of an eye. Other parts of the Constitution have been accepted as outdated and irrelevant by today's standards. But oh no! Not that Second Amendment! In some people's minds it is just as relevant now as it was in 1791 and should never ever even be considered for change. Even in the wake of an event that removed 20 first graders from this planet forever.
But what I really don't understand about the gun control debate in this country right now, is why no one is actually listening to our president. No one wants to take guns away from the decent, law-abiding citizens who choose to own them. Keep your hunting rifles, your pistols, and shotguns! The only legislation that is being proposed at this time is a ban on military style assault rifles and magazines which hold more than 10 rounds. What is so wrong with that? I have yet to hear this from any gun control opposer. I have yet to hear someone who is so vehemently defending the Second Amendment tell me why those guns and that kind of ammunition are necessary. Do hunters go out in the woods and mow down deer with these kinds of guns? Are you such a bad shot that in a situation where you had to defend yourself with lethal force, you need a goddamn machine gun to get your point across? These guns are not designed for hunting, or for defending one's personal property, home, and self. These guns are designed to shoot as many people in as short of a time as possible. They are designed to be weapons of war. And last I knew, there has not been a war on American soil since 1861. So what is the big deal? Please, someone who is convinced that this is the death of the rights of every American citizen, tell me? Tell me how regulating these guns which have been used countless times to kill people and destroy not only individual families but the psyche of the country as a whole is such an infringement on your personal rights and freedoms.
How can we live with ourselves when the next time this happens, we stand aside and say "Well, sorry folks, but we can't go back on that holy Second Amendment!"
If you think that this is such an infringement on your rights, what would your solution be then? Armed guards in every school, mall and movie theater? Mass institutionalization of the mentally ill? Do nothing and just accept that these kinds of things are going to happen in our world?
I think that instead of just jumping on the uninformed bandwagon waving the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, if some of these people took the time to get informed about what is actually going on in this country and the legislation that is being proposed, they might find that no one is trying to storm into their houses and forcibly remove all their guns. I think that most people would realize that these are called "common sense gun laws" because they are just that. Common sense dictates that if people are taking these assault rifles into public places and killing as many people at a time as they can, that those assault rifles need to be made more difficult to obtain. Common sense dictates that if there are laws regarding criminals and the mentally ill and their ability to obtain guns, that they should not be able to bypass those laws by buying guns from a gun show rather than in a store. Common sense dictates that the way we are doing things now IS NOT WORKING, and something has to change.
Here is a link for those who may choose to get informed, and maybe, just maybe, think critically about what is going on here:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/16/169508482/obama-unveiling-plans-on-reducing-gun-violence
No comments:
Post a Comment