Some questions about 2nd Amendment
To the Times: The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America reads, “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.”
I have a few questions, can anyone help answer?
Does this give me the right to buy, build and-or own nuclear arms, rocket propelled grenades launchers etc? If these arms may be restricted from private citizen ownership, and to be prepared as part of a well regulated Militia, then why can’t or shouldn’t semi- and fully automatic assault rifles also be restricted?
If at the time of enactment of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, the need for “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms” was “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State” and at which time the United States of America did not have a federal military fully funded by taxation of the people as we do now, does that need still exist today?
Why must the answer to safety be a single-prong solution?
Why can’t background checks, mental health, mandatory centralized data base reporting, age restriction, permitting, registration, proof of continued possession inspection, etc, all be concurrently perused and updated to modern time relevance?
Constitutional Amendment process requires a two-thirds majority of House and Senate, then ratification by three-quarters of the States of the Union (38 of 50). With the gaping chasm between partisan, political views, and special interest lobbying resources, achieving this would be a monumental undertaking. To possibly keep our elected officials aware of their constituents’ opinion why couldn’t a non-binding question be added to the next election ballot?
Also, why do our elected officials always focus on what they do not agree upon? Why can’t they spend more effort focusing upon even the most meager shards of commonality and move the bar at least incrementally toward change and improvement? Let’s consider having each member of Congress make a list of every solution to all aspects of a mass shooting resolution that they support. Then have all be aggregated into a single list posted online to which they then add their name indicating either support or opposition for all see. At that point at least start by drafting legislation to swiftly pass and enact into law every item having majority support. Voila! Something is accomplished. And each politician’s constituents now have a report card to aid in future reelection decision making. Transparency and accountability!