It has been eight days since the killing 19 elementary school students and 2 teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24th. Based solely on what I see on social media, the outrage and call for action to “do something” is already waning. This is typical and part of the cycle depicted in the graphics I used in my previous blog that is sadly all too true.
In that same posting, I also quoted the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution. It is actually quite simple:
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.
These 27 words have been the basis for political platforms, the subjects of books, part of the reason we have politically polarized. So, why would I take a swipe at this? To alienate and irritate everyone? Because I am an idiot? Because it is big fat pinata I want to take a swipe at?
As stated in my most post, this amendment was ratified in 1791. The “arms” of that era was different than the arms of today. The rifles and handguns of those days were muzzle loaded. The best trained riflemen of around the time the 2nd Amendment was ratified could shoot a musket at a rate of 4 rounds a minute which is faster than I thought.
The rate of fire was lower in the 18th century is much lower than the semi-automatic weapons of today which can fire a round each time you pull the trigger. This means one could easily fire 30-40 rounds a minute. To increase the rate, rifles such as the AR-15 which can be fitted with high-capacity clips and bump stocks which basically can turn a rapid fire semi-automatic weapon into an automatic one (basically a machine gun). Watch this excellent video that shows how and AR-15 can be modified to do this.
Let’s look at the 2nd Amendent a bit closer. The debate these days is about the “right to bear arms.” People are divided into two general camps. One group abhors firearms and never wants to own them. The other group believes owning guns are a right that should not be infringed upon. In the latter group there are many factions. Some want guns for home or self protection. Some are sportsman and like target shooting or hunting. Others are collectors. They last faction wants guns for nefarious reasons which include their life of crime and those that want to kill innocents in the kinds of mass shootings that plague this nation.
The other aspect of the 2nd Amendment is the “well regulated militia” part. What is a militia anyway? Per an internet seach, Google and OxfordLanguages provided this definition:
a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency.
This sounds good. We can mobilize a militia to defend the country. Everyone grabs their musket or AR-15 with bump stock and twenty four 40 round magazine when they hear Paul Revere beckon or text them. The 2nd also says the militia should be well regulated. Well regulated, that sounds like trained, that sounds like subject to some rules and, dare I say it, laws. Consider Switzerland, the neutral country. They have a high level of gun ownership and a “well regulated militia” that has kept the country neutral for over 200 years. They have 2 million guns of 8.3 million people. They are stict regulations and laws, lots of training to use the firearms, lots of practice using them, so they can store them in their homes along with other gear that their well regulated militia needs to mobilize and defend the country if needed. Read more about the Swiss model in businessinsider.com.
We certainly do not have anything close to this. We embrace the right to bear arms with little restriction. We are not well regulated. We are more like the Wild West.
We can better regulate our militia. We can still embrace the right to bear arms. The focus must be on those wanting and using weapons for nefarious purposes. What’s holding us back? Nothing more than ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment