“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 generated intense discussion and arguments over the decades but with little resolution in terms of national understanding. The Supreme Court addressed this amendment seven times, yet it continues to be an issue fraught with misunderstanding and one that has defied accepted resolution.
Let’s start with an understanding of often ignored terms at the beginning and end of the Amendment, as defined by Merriam-Webster:
“Well regulated’” means that something (in this case, a militia) operates properly through a set of rules (i.e. regulations) and laws.
“Militia” is a military force raised by the State from the civilian population to supplement the regular army in an emergency. Notice the word is ‘supplement’…not ‘substitute” or ‘supplant.’ Defending yourself from the militia is not even implied.
“Infringed” means to curtail or act to limit. ‘Ah Hah!’ says the purest. Clearly the Amendment means that the right is limitless. Not so. Limits have always been placed on gun ownership. The one we’re probably most familiar with banned certain firearms, including machine guns, back in the 30’s. In District of Columbia v. Heller, SCOTUS ruled that the Second Amendment “should not be understood as conferring a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner and for whatever purpose” and is consistent with banning ‘dangerous and unusual weapons such as M-16 rifles’ and other firearms most useful in military service.
So the right to own guns is not unlimited and never was. Efforts to set reasonable limits, i.e. to regulate, are clearly stated in the Amendment as a reasonable condition. In Boston, back in the day, it was illegal to keep guns at home because they were so poorly made they often exploded. In 1824, the University of Virginia banned guns on campus…two members of the Board of Regents who made that decision were James Madison, the author of the Second Amendment, and Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Times change – along with knowledge, cultural norms, accepted practice, technology…and laws. That is, after all, the point of legislation; to make laws appropriate to time and place and for the public good. Which brings us to today.
It brings us precisely to today when millions of people, world wide, including Villagers, rallied for sensible gun reform. Following each horrific event in the past, there has been an outcry for gun reform but nothing changed at the federal level. This time it’s different. It’s beyond embarrassing when 15 year old kids make more sense than members of Congress. It’s heart grabbing when teenagers have to beg adults to protect them. The demand for gun reform is not going to disappear; we are not going back to the status quo. Ever. It will be a key issue in the 2018 election. This is a movement.
Here are the regulations around which there appear to be a consensus:
- Ban future sales of assault style weapons. They can’t even be used for hunting if the hunter wants anything left that resembles a trophy. They belong on the battlefield. Institute a buy-back program with the Dept. of Defense picking up the tab – and the gun.
- Implement and broaden comprehensive background checks. That means no sale anywhere, by anyone, is complete until the background check is complete. Share data bases between agencies and States so that individuals with violent police records or mental health problems that have led to violence in the past are prevented from purchasing a gun.
- Laws must be passed at the federal level to assure equal application nationwide.
- Prosecute adults for child neglect and endangerment if they do not store weapons and ammunition safely.
No more excuses; no more blaming video games, single parenting, mental health problems or poverty. Every developed country does so much better than we do in preventing gun violence. It’s not that they have fewer mental health problems per capita or less violent video games, less ‘moral decay,’ or that they are less prone to crime. It’s simple. They have stronger gun laws. They’ve made it much harder for the wrong people to get a gun. The only variable that sets us apart is our easy access to them.
The kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas are living up magnificently to their school’s namesake. She said, “Be a nuisance when it counts. Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action. Be depressed, discouraged and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics – but never give up.” She might have added, ‘call BS when you see it.’
We owe it to these kids and our grandchildren and our country to do the same; to never give up until we have sane and sensible gun laws. To quote the movement’s mantra, “enough!”
Villager Marsha Shearer is a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com
