"A well regulated militia -- "
A major problem in America today is that the so-called "militia" is not well regulated or controlled. Therefore, the free cities and states of America are not secure, because there are too many guns, and little control of unregulated civilians pretending to be part of a "militia."
With the exception of the National Guard -- a well regulated organization supervised by each state -- there are no militias in America states. There may be civilian groups calling themselves militia, but as for being organized, that's another issue.
Individuals acting on their own and killing others do not qualify as militia. They are criminals.
Some defend their membership in the National Rifle Association (NRA) as part of a national defense force. It is true that the NRA was formed with the help of the U.S. Army during wartime many decades ago, driven by fears of an invasion. But the odds of invasion are somewhere between slim and none, and in either case we have a well organized national Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard to protect America from invasion.
That raises the question of invasion from where -- Canada? Not likely. Nor Mexico.
Moreover, the U.S. Army canceled its formal relationship with the gun industry long ago, driven in part by a lack of need as well as the industry's desire for profit every year, regardless of wartime conflict.
Now, there are more guns in America than there are people. And that does not count military weapons.
Gun lobbyists cite the Second Amendment as their guarantee that they can have as many firearms as they please, with little or no regulation. And they cite the last phrase of the Amendment, that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
This ignores the first phrase: "A well regulated militia."
Therefore, government does indeed have the right to regulate gun ownership.
The issue then becomes an argument over who can own a gun, and how many.
Is there or should there be a limit to the number of firearms a civilian can own? Many lobbyist insist there should not be any limits.
Nor should there be a limit on the type of gun a civilian can possess, they claim.
Many gun owners insist they "need" a high-caliber, multi-shot, long-distance weapon when hunting wildlife.
In New Jersey?
And is that fair to Bambi?
A major problem in America today is that the so-called "militia" is not well regulated or controlled. Therefore, the free cities and states of America are not secure, because there are too many guns, and little control of unregulated civilians pretending to be part of a "militia."
With the exception of the National Guard -- a well regulated organization supervised by each state -- there are no militias in America states. There may be civilian groups calling themselves militia, but as for being organized, that's another issue.
Individuals acting on their own and killing others do not qualify as militia. They are criminals.
Some defend their membership in the National Rifle Association (NRA) as part of a national defense force. It is true that the NRA was formed with the help of the U.S. Army during wartime many decades ago, driven by fears of an invasion. But the odds of invasion are somewhere between slim and none, and in either case we have a well organized national Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard to protect America from invasion.
That raises the question of invasion from where -- Canada? Not likely. Nor Mexico.
Moreover, the U.S. Army canceled its formal relationship with the gun industry long ago, driven in part by a lack of need as well as the industry's desire for profit every year, regardless of wartime conflict.
Now, there are more guns in America than there are people. And that does not count military weapons.
Gun lobbyists cite the Second Amendment as their guarantee that they can have as many firearms as they please, with little or no regulation. And they cite the last phrase of the Amendment, that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
This ignores the first phrase: "A well regulated militia."
Therefore, government does indeed have the right to regulate gun ownership.
The issue then becomes an argument over who can own a gun, and how many.
Is there or should there be a limit to the number of firearms a civilian can own? Many lobbyist insist there should not be any limits.
Nor should there be a limit on the type of gun a civilian can possess, they claim.
Many gun owners insist they "need" a high-caliber, multi-shot, long-distance weapon when hunting wildlife.
In New Jersey?
And is that fair to Bambi?
No comments:
Post a Comment