The Second Amendment, A Well Reasoned Interpretation-Part 2
power, real, or moderately implied, to do that which is necessary to promote the general welfare of the people. But I am also a strong believer in the rule of law, the absence of which is anarchy a system none of us I trust wishes to live under. And I am a strong proponent of personal responsibility, and I believe that those fundamental rights codified in the Bill of Rights and elsewhere in the Federal Constitution, come with implied responsibilities, the absence of which, once again leads to anarchy. I think it is the absence of personal responsibility that has led to the recent rash of high profile shooting and hundreds more we do not hear about everyday in this nation.
All of the incidents of gun violence that seemed to saturate the airwaves throughout the 90’s were well publicized, the victims mourned over, and the events themselves bemoaned as tragic in the extreme. The politicians at both the state and federal levels played lip service to the events via meaningless sound bites compliments of the national press and then promptly forgot the events when the furor died down. Same ole actions and reactions; meanwhile nothing ever changes for the good and the killing continues apace!
The original intent of the 2nd Amendment was twofold; first it was to guard against the oppression of the people by the government, by forming and maintaining a well-regulated militia from each state, and provide arms for said militia’. Second since the new United States had no standing Army at the time the United States Constitution was adopted, the forces for these militia had to come from the citizen’s at large, and they had to provide their own arms, thus the 2nd Amendment was adopted.
Fast forward to today. Each state funds and maintains its own militia in the guise of the National Guard. The many states and the federal government provide the arms and ammunition to these militia.
With the forgoing in mind, I respectfully submit again that clause two of second amendment has outlived its usefulness. And we The People are tired. Tired of living in fear of random violence at the hands of street thugs who think respect equals a gun; tried of waiting for the next set of wayward teens to murder their fellows; tired of having to watch our backs on the subway train, or on a bus, while jogging down our
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