Second Amendment Rights

"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." The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

Gun control has long been a disputed topic of the American people. This is another one of those issues that I believe the Federal Supreme Court and Congress should make some all-inclusive decisions on. It makes no sense at all for gun laws to change depending on which state you're in. Since the US Constitution allows for the "right to bear arms" and Congress opted to include it in the Rights from Day 1 and laid pen to it, they too should set the laws to regulate ownership and use. Another point which causes me to argue the wisdom of a Republic.

Objectively, you can look at this Amendment two ways. One, our Founding Fathers and the Congress that wrote the Bill of Rights felt strongly that the American People have the right to own guns. They allowed for it. Therefore, we have the right, end of story.
TWO, this was clearly written in the "militia" mindset. At that point in history, we had no Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard. (yes, many forget the Coast Guard) Our national security and independence relied solely on the average citizen taking his rifle down from the wall and staking his life on something he believed in. If it weren't for our Minutemen, we would still be singing "God Save the Queen"....
....but, many would argue, times have changed. We do have the Armed Forces. We no longer rely on a militia-type situation. If all of our troops were over seas, we have the back up of the National Guard or Reserve forces, whose primary objective is securing peace and security within our borders.
There is one concept that I think is often overlooked or not realized. One of the objectives our Founding Fathers had in mind when ensuring our right to posses and bear arms was this... A government who entrusts its citizens with the means to fight back, is less likely to become tyrannical. Now... what is the truth or logic of that? What would happen if the citizens of Oregon banded together and raised arms against the Federal Government? If Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana did? Hell the whole West Coast? The Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard would come and SHUT US DOWN! Not very realistic, but a nice gesture. Kind of like the parent whose 5 year old threatens to run away and simply says "there's your suitcase, there's the door... you can go when you want..".... but we all know it's never going to happen.

While we can certainly say that civilian ownership of firearms not only secured our independence from Britain, but preserved that independence during the War of 1812 and we can look at other countries throughout history and see how it benefited them, ie. the Swiss were able to turn away the Nazi's while so many of their neighbors were easily consumed.... there is a legitimate argument that, in our current state of society, firearms too easily fall into the hands of criminals and murderers.

* Last week (ish), Maryland, a man upset by his mother's deteriorating health, took out a gun and shot the doctor. Then he locked himself in his mother's hospital room, shot her and then himself.

* Last weekend, Oregon, a man, apparently upset by his impending divorce, shot his daughters, age 7 and 9, then himself.

*Last Thursday, Washington, Mom goes crazy and kills 3 family members then herself.

*Yesterday, Florida, a man shot his ex-wife, her 5 children (one survived) and then himself. He did spare the 2 children that were his.

*Yesterday, Florida, an elderly man, disgruntled over teens skateboarding in the park, pulled out a gun and shot the man who came forward to defend the  right of the teens to be in the park.

But we all know that guns don't make crazy parents. I think a parent who is capable of killing their children will do so with or without a gun. Mentally ill moms have been drowning their children in bathtubs, putting babies in the microwave, throwing them down embankments, or beating them to death long before Diane Downs invented her Bushy-Haired Stranger.

So what is the answer? Outlaw civilian ownership of firearms? Will that really solve the problem? People who have legally registered weapons don't TEND to be the people who commit gun crimes. Will outlawing guns get illegally owned guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals? ...I tend to think not.

Perhaps a bit of the answer is to start with uniformed gun laws. In Florida, they have a "Stand Your Ground" law. It's legal to defend yourself or your home with lethal force. (I haven't read the law... and I'm not sure how it truly differs from any other reasonable 'self-defense type' law.) The man in Florida who shot the man defending the teen skateboarders, in view of many witnesses (including the deceased man's 8 year old daughter) didn't go to jail, was not arrested, no charges have been filed. Though he was not on his property at the time of the shooting, was not reported to be in physical danger himself, and there are conflicting stories that he 1- had the gun on him, then that he 2- went back into his house for the gun.... People are speculating that this "Stand Your Ground" law will be his defense. (There are also uncited reports that the shooter is a retired law enforcement officer.)

I wouldn't be opposed, AT ALL, to every firearm having to be registered. Currently, only hand guns have that requirement. This doesn't make sense to me. All guns have the potential to be used in a crime. Register them all. If you're an upstanding citizen, you shouldn't have a problem with this.

During production, require the manufacturers to test and provide forensic fingerprints of each weapon's rifling and whatnot. Require gun owners to reregister their weapons every few years, including a test fire and updated forensic fingerprinting.

Make gun modification illegal or place strict policies on it. If you change out a gun's barrel, it has to be reregistered. If you fail to comply, you lose your right to "bear arms".

Require ammunition manufactures to develop a tracking system for their munitions. I'm not sure how you would deal with people who make and reload their own ammunition (it's rather fun, cheaper, and not a bad hobby....)

Require individuals who own firearms to show proof of reasonable, safe, responsible gun storage.

These are just some ideas.. If I can come up with this off the top of my head... just think what the professionals could come up with if they TRIED!

The bottom line is this... Scumbags who want guns will always be able to get them. You can't undo 200+ years of guns being a part of our society. You can't erase them. They will always be here. The best way, I think, to combat the problem is to make them all traceable, put away the scumbags and get those guns off the streets. But still, if cocaine and heroin and marijuana can be snuck across our borders, illegal weapons will come with them....