In the wake of the recent shooting incidents in Portland, Ore., and in Newtown, Conn., the gun control crowd has risen in panic and indignation once again. It is time for the citizens of this country to be reappraised of just exactly what the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights of our Constitution really means and why it was put there.
Most, if not all you reading this should know that this country was founded upon rejection of unjust laws that were placed upon the citizens who lived here by a king whose power was absolute and backed by the Royal Navy and the British Army. The Founders' basic principles were Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, not to mention their opposition to taxation without representation. So in the course of human events, the Founders decided to take a leap of faith and break away from England.
One thing that the Founders looked at very closely was the formation of a standing army. In those days, armies under control of a king could and were often used to suppress their subjects -- not citizens - of whatever king they happened to belong to. Our Founders saw the fallacy in that concept and decided that a militia was the proper direction for the United States to proceed in for the defense of the new Republic. What that meant was that every able-bodied male between the ages of 16 and 45 was required to possess and maintain the arms and accouterments of the soldier and be ready to muster when called upon.
The United States Army was meant to be a small, highly disciplined cadre of soldiers that would be used to train the militia for the defense of the Republic. The key was a "small, professional cadre."
To ensure that, the Second Amendment was made a part of the Bill of Rights. To get right to the point: the Second Amendment is not there so that you, John or Jane Q Citizen, can go duck- or deer-hunting, shoot holes in paper targets or even shoot the meth-crazed intruder who is about to rape your daughter and steal your possessions. The Second Amendment is about you and me - the citizens of this country - having the tools needed to a) muster and defend the Republic in the event of a foreign enemy trying to invade this land, and b) assure that our government does not infringe upon the rights and liberties that were guaranteed when the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written and adopted - and shall not be infringed! It's that simple.
Now in our modern world it is easy to say "We don't need a militia! We have the U.S. military machine!" And what a machine it is, especially since it is now used as the world's police force, more so than to defend our Republic.
In the end, if a person wants to kill people for whatever the reason, they will do so. To mindlessly scream and shout that no one should be able to own firearms, no matter the type, is naive, short-sighted and exhibits a foolish belief that the government can and will protect them. The best example that comes to mind as I write this is the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh did not use a single firearm; he used an ammonium nitrate-fuel oil bomb, and he was not a weapons-maker or a scientist. He was a deranged individual, as were all the killers in these recent events - just look at their photographs. And finally, if the folks that are screaming the loudest for gun confiscation looked at all the gratuitous violence that pervades our society in the form of games, movies and attitudes, and did something about that, then maybe these types of incidents would go away or at least not occur as frequently. Guns do not kill people - sick and deranged individuals using guns kill people, and if they didn't use a gun, it would be a baseball bat, a rock or a bomb!
Robert Lucariello resides in Arcata.