Sunday, December 15, 2013

The second amendment doesn’t work anymore! So, let’s get rid of it.

As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, then-Secretary of State: [24]
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.

If the original intention of Amendment II of our Constitution was properly executed, there would be no Grand National discourse as to how many, and what type of, guns a civilian might be “allowed” to have.

Ideals that helped to inspire the Second Amendment in part are symbolized by the minutemen. [41]
                                                                                       41.  Cornell, Gun Control, p. 2
This little piece of our National Constitution in no way mandates that every household in the Country has to have firearms. 

The existence of this Amendment grants only the “right” to “keep and bear arms”, not a mandate that every household needs to be armed to the teeth.

If you interpret this Amendment as it was most probably intended, you can easily come to the conclusion that the British, French, Indians, and Spanish are not going to storm our shores, loot, pillage, plunder and rape any time in the foreseeable future. Based on the size of our National arsenal, I would venture a guess that, save the lone terrorist group, no one will ever attempt to overrun our borders using lethal force.

I know the theory of “monkey see; monkey do” is a statistically valid theory. This is pointed out by the fact that our Nation has been involved in 166 incidents of armed conflict over its 248 year history. That translates into 1 ½ such conflicts/wars every year of existence as a sovereign Nation.

The United States ranks first in a good number of categories. The fact that we seem to like to shoot first and ask questions later might be a category we no longer need to be the best at.

The United States has, for quite some time, had the absolute best Military of any Nation in the history of man. This is a position that is part of our national DNA. We tend to enjoy protecting ourselves against any enemy anywhere in the World. This is not a bad thing, until you start pulling the trigger as often as we seem to.

What does this have to do with our 2nd Amendment? What our elected officials do by waging war so often, on our behalf, has been replicated in the people’s psyche. It’s as if we all want to be G.I. Joe, or Rambo. Civilian life isn’t supposed to be like that; hence the definition of the word “civil” (Go ahead, look it up. I dare you.).

Since there is no one about to huff and puff and blow your house down, we should get rid of this 2nd Amendment completely. It has outlived its usefulness, and has, indeed, become a detriment to life as it should be.

Is it really our intention, as a people, to run around shooting our children let alone each other? Can’t we leave the shooting to those we ask to protect us? Let’s get rid of our paranoia and, at the same time, lose the 2nd Amendment.