US needs to regulate gun ownership
“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.” — Amendment II to the Constitution
The Second Amendment is one of the shortest in length, but for some reason, the first 13 words are often omitted. “Militia” is a word that seems to apply to fringe groups of oddly dressed ruffians such as those who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and the phrase “well regulated” doesn’t seem to describe those people.
After the Boston Tea Party, Britain required permits to export firearms and powder to the Colonies — and then issued no permits. It was one of the main causes of the Revolutionary War. The defiance of the colonists, who were accustomed to assemble as militias to defend their communities, was reflected in this amendment, ratified 15 years after the Declaration of Independence.
But as for militias themselves, words change. Every state has a militia, and each is generally accepted to be wellregulated. We now call them the National Guard, rather than the state militias. And, thanks to the Second Amendment, every U.S. citizen is eligible to apply for membership, subject to the requirements thereof.
I don’t contend that being in the Guard is the only way one can keep and bear arms, but it does seem to restrict any other way. The right of the people to keep and bear arms outside of the Guard should also be well-regulated.
We have limits on the types of “arms” we can legally own and use as private citizens. Tactical automatic weapons are a definite no-no, as are nerve gas and flame-throwers. We had a ban on so-called assault rifles, but it was cancelled. It made it clear that defining what’s legal and what’s not is very difficult.
There are many in this country who claim the Second Amendment is all but universal. They make a show of carrying weapons, especially big scary ones, everywhere they go. Every single time there is some sort of uproar in our country, guns and ammo fly from stores as the call is once again given that “they are coming for our guns.” Every damned time. There must be mountains of firearms and outdated ammunition out there somewhere.
Just as there are requirements to join the National Guard, there should be requirements for owning weapons of any kind. Defining legal arms is one facet of regulation; another is training to use the weapon safely. Any such requirement meets immediate opposition, but I think it’s clear that making such requirements is legal, and even mandated by the amendment.
Perhaps each state National Guard should regulate citizen firearm ownership. It would be far better than leaving it to the painted guy in the cow horns parading around the Capitol.
It’s clear the Second Amendment creates a right for individual citizens, but it is a state’s right at heart — the right of a state to protect itself against aggression, as well as to regulate that protection.