Just saw the tragic story of the 9 year old that accidently
shot her shooting instructor. While I’ll let the rest of the blogosphere chastise
all those involved with that decision, it does rekindle my thoughts on gun control
and the 2nd amendment to the Constitution. You may recall the furor after the Connecticut
school shooting and the debate in our nation’s Capital over the meaning of the
2nd amendment and how some measures to control or monitor gun
ownership stacked up against the right to bear arms.
In order to speak somewhat intelligently on the issue, I
actually looked up what the 2nd amendment says (Something everyone
should do, by the way). Although there
is some discrepancy about punctuation, I think it is pretty clear that the
right to bear arms was established in order to insure that a State could raise
a militia in the event that a neighboring state or maybe the Federal government
got feisty.
While this may have been germane in the days when your crew with
your flintlocks could stand up to George and his boys and their flintlocks, I
think everyone would agree that times and situations have changed. The only thing
akin to a State militia these days is the National Guard. Last time I looked,
this was no longer a BYO Gun organization. So I don’t think the militia argument
holds up in modern times.
The same holds true for the real crazies as well. You know
the ones who insist that they be allowed to own any and all types and number of
armaments in case our Government turns oppressive and they have to defend the
old homestead. Again, I think we can all agree that the invasion of a repressive
US Government is a highly unlikely scenario. But even given this situation, I
don’t care how many 50 calibers you own. If the Obama boys decide to drop a
Cruise missile down your chimney you’re pretty much toast.
I think it’s time, again, to take a look at some reasonable approach
to gun control in this country. I am certainly not opposed to gun ownership per
say. Shooting for sport, whether you’re a hunter or a target shooter is a
perfectly reasonable pastime. Owning a gun for personal protection is a right
that everyone who is so inclined should have. But despite the arguments put
forward by the mouthpiece for the gun manufacturers, the NRA, there is no
reasonable basis for demanding that everyone be entitled to ownership of
weapons designed for only one purpose, killing each other as rapidly as
possible.
Until Next Time
The OC
