America Held Hostage (by Gun Nuts)
“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.”
America has a problem. To hear some tell it, that problem is with the mental health of people, usually young men. To hear others tell it, that problem is with doors. There are just too many, and you never know what sort of riff riff are going to come through them — into schools, those dens of iniquity and vice, where children are made to hate themselves so they will change into transgender communists. But some of us say that the problem is not guns per se but the ease of access to weapons of war, weapons no private citizen needs.
Since those of us who say that constitute the majority of Americans, one would think that would be the end of that. Like the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries, we could simply pass laws to stop the killing of innocent children. No one wishes to see the killing of innocent children, except of course for the people killing innocent children, right? Well, perhaps the people who would rather see the killing of innocent children than the preventing of it. They certainly would rather it continue than do what is necessary — whatever it takes! — to stop it. What could be more important than protecting our citizens of every age? Wasn’t the goal “the security of a free State”?
Whether one thinks the phrase “well regulated” means “properly equipped and trained” or “regulated by the Government”, there is no dispute over the word “militia”. The Amendment applies to militias not individual private citizens separate from militias.
But even if one thinks the Amendment applies to militias and to individual private citizens, there is no one arguing that those who wrote the Constitution intended for innocent children to be shot and killed at school. No one who wrote the Constitution ever saw an automatic or semi-automatic rifle. No one who wrote the Constitution likely ever imagined such a weapon. So it’s fair to say that the Amendment was written with previous (not current) weapons in mind.
Since we can all agree that no one who wrote the Constitution intended for innocent children to be shot and killed at school by modern weapons, it’s also fair to say that the Second Amendment is being abused. It is being abused by those who commit mass killings: at schools, in supermarkets and streets, on LIRR railroad cars, or anywhere else. It is being abused by those who prevent reform for money or power. It is being abused by those who love guns more than peace and justice.
How can it be that this goes on by the decade without change in a nation the majority of which supports reform? By the power of the gun-loving voters to intimidate elected officials. The officials are afraid of the gun nuts. Now, there are those who say governments should be afraid of their citizens and not the other way around, but this is a matter of abuse. The gun nuts are holding the nation hostage, preventing the government from doing its job of keeping us safe from violent criminals. The gun nuts are therefore indirectly causing mass murders to continue by preventing the reforms that would stop the mass murders! I have no difficulty saying that the gun nuts and those working to curry their favor (gun lobbyists) are responsible for every single mass murder.
Uvalde seems to have caused a tipping point. Worse than Sandy Hook, it seems to have caused the regulation-supporting majority to say, “Enough!”
Too late for too many beautiful children and adults.
So yes, America has a problem, and the problem is that any lunatic can buy weapons of war too easily. Preventing that should be a no-brainer. The problem is too many have no brains.
Whether we allow private citizens to possess firearms or not (I personally favor repealing the Second Amendment entirely), we must at least first end the abuse of the Amendment. We must end the ease of access to weapons of war, weapons no private citizen needs.
