Here it is, in all its glory.
AMENDMENT II
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.
Is this left open to broad interpretation? I suppose it is. What I read is “If you’re part of an organized Militia, you have the right to keep a weapon.”
It doesn’t say you don’t have to register it. It doesn’t say you don’t have to get a background check. It doesn’t say you have to be given the weapon right away. It doesn’t say you can have it without formal training. It was written at a time when people fired muskets. Single shot weapons that took time to reload. If a musket had been used at any of these mass killings over the years we wouldn’t be talking about this because the knuckleheads perpetrating the crimes probably wouldn’t have gotten very far. I think it’s been proven time and again guns don’t make us safer. This latest jerk killed his mom, who owned guns. It certainly didn’t help her, she’s dead.
My brother wrote a good piece on guns yesterday. I see his viewpoint. At one point in my life I was a hunter. I hunted dove for a few seasons and, yes, we ate what we killed. I had to go to training to learn how to treat a weapon. They’re deadly, ALWAYS. Even if you don’t want them to be. We had 22’s, shotguns, pellet guns, BB guns, and my grandfather and father had high powered hunting rifles, .30-06’s I believe. We had a healthy respect for guns, trust me. We didn’t handle them lightly and were always supervised. I never believed them to be for home defense, although my dad and grandfather did.
I’d like to see assault weapons banned. They’re only good for one thing, killing people. You can’t use them for hunting. Ok, I suppose you could, but they’re not good for shooting bird and they’re not terribly accurate at a great distance. They were built for war. Cops and the military are great places for them. That is one small step, but there is a much bigger problem. The elephant in the room so to speak.
America has a history of violence. Our neighbor’s to the north, Canada, don’t have this problem and they have more guns than we do. Why? It’s probably more than one thing, but having universal healthcare is probably a big contributor. Yes, you read that right. All the people committing mass murder have psychological issues. Most of the time we find out someone tried to get them help but they didn’t have insurance or the insurance company denied their claims. The United States is broken in many ways.
I don’t need a gun to protect my family. I’m not afraid of bogeymen in the dark. If you face me with a weapon in hand, whose the coward? I’ll give you a hint, not me.
Oh, arming people at schools is about the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. The NRA has lost it’s collective brain if they think that’s a good idea.
Mr. LaPierra, you’re not crazy, looney is probably a more apt description. Seek psychological help. You’re part of the problem.