Second Amendment Problems

"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."  That my friends, is the complete text of the 2nd Amendment.  Far too many latter day buckaroos have no idea that the right to be armed is contingent upon maintaining state militias.  Back in the 1790s, the citizens of our newly established republic were deeply concerned about security against the British, who had yet to live up to the terms of the Treaty of Paris, especially in their promise to abandon forts along the western frontier.  Further, the British were still inciting Native Americans in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys to make war on the American whites settling beyond the Appalachians.  Since there was no way that the all but bankrupt states could afford to muster official state militias back then (maybe now again too), private citizens would be called on to form ad hoc militia units to defend their communities against these threats.  At the time, cap and ball muskets were state of the art weapons and the Second Amendment guaranteed that the states would have a ready supply of "volunteers" if the need arose.

Fast-forward 200 years and we see that all Fifty states have well-armed and well-trained state militias, now called National Guard units.  They are afforded state of the art military weapons and are called upon to defend both state and country as the need arises.  Thus, the "original intent" of the 2nd Amendment, for all you so-called originalists out there, has been satisfied without the need for every citizen to be at the ready for a sneak attack from those dastardly Brits, or the local Indian Casino.  One would think that the text of the 2nd Amendment would be about as relevant today as is the 3rd Amendment.  Give that one a read and you will see what I mean.  But no, the gun lobby of the NRA and firearms manufacturers, along with their paranoid toadies in Congress have simply edited out the first, and primary clause of the 2nd Amendment.  Think not?  Then show up at a gun show and ask the people shopping for the latest sniper scopes (mostly white men) to quote the entirety of their most hallowed text.

The reason for this is actually quite simple.  Do you remember the charitable organization called the March of Dimes?  Sure you do, it was originally formed to raise money to fight the deadly disease Infantile Paralysis more commonly known as Polio.  Thanks to their efforts, and lots of school kids gathering all those dimes, Jonas Salk and his research staff developed a vaccine to protect us all from this scourge.  In the words of George W. Bush, "Mission Accomplished" (in this case those words were actually true).  So what happened to the March of Dimes?  Did they disband?  No.  Too many highly paid fund administrators needed to keep this cash cow alive, so they just re-invented themselves.  And to their credit, they found an ailment much less likely to yield a cure, Birth Defects. Some fifty-six years after polio went down, the March of Dimes is still a driving force in the private charity industry and a great many people make a very fine living managing all those dimes (even though they no longer collect "dimes" from little kids.

So too, the advocates of a well-armed civilian population (fire arm manufacturers, gun retailers, gun lobbies, toady Congressmen, and not too few gun nuts) have re-invented the meaning of the 2nd Amendment.  Today many of the latter day militia wanna-bes have convinced themselves that they are the only bulwark preventing our 221 year-old Republic (counting from the ratification of the Constitution) from rapidly devolving into a tyranny.  That alone should be grounds for preventing these delusional patriots from ever being able own lethal weapons. And, thanks to the heretofore mentioned gun promoters, these same people are convinced that they are all in eminent danger of being assaulted or killed by vicious gangs of roving criminals.  Forget the fact that violent crime in this country has been declining for quite some time (see FBI website for actual stats), more and more deadly weapons are being purchased now than at any time in American history. Perhaps the most alarming fact to emerge in the aftermath of the Tucson shooting was the record sale of multiple round pistol magazines by people who actually believe their personal liberty may be in jeopardy.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if a proliferation in gun ownership actually resulted in a safer society? Were that the case I would have purchased an AK-47 years ago.  But a look around our planet at the countries with the most guns free-floating among their respective civilian populations reveals just the opposite. And now with states like Arizona and Tennessee removing most restrictions on carrying and concealing, it must be incredibly reassuring to know that the loud mouth next to you at a ballgame or in a bar can add bullets to his alcohol induced bravado.