Second Amendment Remedies

The recent events in Tucson, AZ have sent waves of horror and shock throughout the nation.  A perfectly calm Saturday morning in a calm and humble Southwestern suburb…   Isn’t that the way these scenarios always play out?  The serene nature of our society rocked by bedlam.  

Once again, an all too familiar play acted itself out in an American city.  A crazed gunman, bent on death, dealt a hand of devastation.  This time around, even more attention and hand ringing comes to bear because one of the victims is a member of Congress.  Headlines screaming, “6 DEAD, 14 WOUNDED” flair the worries and fears of a nation.  A moment of silence, a somber statement from the White House, political finger pointing, and the thoughts and prayers of a nation are all too common.  It would seem that there is a playbook that doesn’t even require dusting.  

Once again, we try to place the blame.  Was this troubled 22 year old man influenced by overly heated political vitriol?  Did all the right people miss all the signs?  How was this crazed lunatic able to purchase a gun?  All of these questions are viable.  They all need to be answered.  

Our country is touted as the greatest hope for freedom across the globe.  The opportunities run aplenty. The unending chase for the American dream seduces the hopes of the masses.  Yet, in the midst of this great experiment in democracy, we find ourselves amidst inconceivable horror time and time again.  In the shadow of the tragedy in Tucson, I found myself asking the same questions as most in the country were.  What caused this? What failure in our society allowed this to happen?  I firmly understand that the unhinged & tortured minds of people that commit these acts are not always able to be stopped.  So then, is it not incumbent upon us, as a society, to find ways to make it as difficult as possible for the fringed minds to accomplish these tasks.

It leads me to one inescapable conclusion:  GUNS.  That’s right.  I’m going to go down that road.  If this demented soul hadn’t have been able to go down to his local “sportsman’s” depot, and buy a handgun, would this have happened?  The pundits on the side of the NRA and so-called “gun rights” say he slipped through the cracks.  His mental instabilities were noticed by college faculty, friends, and his parents were informed of his “problems.”  Yet, because he was never found to be “mentally ill” by a court, and he had no felonies…  The “instant” background check said he was free and clear to bear arms.  The gunman at Virginia Tech, same scenario.  This has been the situation time and time again.  People slipping through the cracks of a system that is so politicized, it’s practical uses are marginal.

“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.”

When our nation’s forefathers and framers of the US Constitution penned these ubiquitous words, the need was immanent.  We had just rebelled against the largest empire in the world.  The brave and noble founders of our country were compelled to protect our fledgling nation.  We had no real military to speak of.  We were a ragtag group of colonists that demanded our freedom.  We repelled the boot of tyranny and oppression, and began the greatest experiment of government in human history.  Our minimal population, in order to keep and protect the values that compelled our revolution, required a means to maintain it.  The former colonists, now citizens of a new nation, required the protections from any that would impinge our capability to defend, and if necessary, repel. It all made sense.

In the intervening centuries, we have become the most powerful nation in the history of the world.  Our economic, political, and military force can alter the very fabric of the global society.  We have built a defensive force in our armed services that has defeated some of the greatest threats civilization has known.  Do we attribute these great strides to the right of our populous to arm themselves?  No.  We attribute our strength to the resolve and determination of generations of Americans who have fought and died to protect the freedoms that guided our nation’s founding.  We, not even once, have had to repel our borders from foreign threat.

The terms, ‘A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state…’ are now antiquated.  The very fabric of our democracy is based on the right of ‘One Person, One Vote.’ We make changes to our government at the ballot box, not within a box of bullets.  So then, why must we maintain the ability ‘keep and bear arms?’  The purpose of the Second Amendment has faded into the rich history of our country.  We no longer need to maintain a militia. We have local, state, and federal law enforcement.  We have our military.  Only the fringe elements see the need to overthrow our government by force.  Yet, somewhere in our national consciousness, there is a need for this archaic ‘right.’  

I think it not only necessary, but vital, that our leaders act as such.  It’s time for the ‘adults’ to talk.  The flimsy arguments that we are going to stop sportsmen from hunting, or creating a society that cannot protect itself are blatantly false.  Our nation is on the precipice of unthinkable devolution to a time long forgotten.  This is not the Wild West.  There is no need to carry a weapon on your hip, to keep an arsenal in your closet.  It’s time, as a nation, we grow up.  The tragic lessons of Tucson, Virginia Tech, and all the senseless tragedies we have endured must be heeded.  

It’s time to grow up.