The events of last night should cause everyone to rethink our country's policies on guns. Right now, the Second Amendment is the law of the land. It states:
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.
We have to ask ourselves the following questions -- Do we need a Second Amendment? The stated intent of the amendment is to form a well-regulated militia. Currently, the standard issue for National Guard members is guns with 30 rounds of ammunition. Given the shootout between police and the Marathon Bombing suspects and given the ability of the current suspect's ability even now to evade police and to carjack people, we need to ask ourselves if the shooting has gone too far and we need to limit the abilities of criminals and terrorists to wreak havoc.
Here are three possible alternatives to the 2nd Amendment:
--Limiting the manufacture of guns for civilians to magazines of 10 rounds or less;
--Turning the issue over to the states, like the amendment to repeal prohibition did;
--Requiring the licensing of guns; persons who wish to own a gun must pass a criminal background check and pass tests related to gun safety (such as how to keep guns away from children, for instance), and must not have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Owning a gun would be a privilege, not a right; persons who misused that privilege would not be allowed to own a gun.
The argument for keeping the 2nd Amendment is that we cannot let the actions of a few people dictate that the government punish the great majority of people who are law-abiding gun-owning citizens. Furthermore, the 2nd Amendment serves an important purpose -- the ability of the populace to stop a dictatorial government that is out of control. Finally, the risk is that if we repeal the 2nd Amendment, then only the criminals would be able to get guns and we would not be able to defend ourselves. Black markets would be created similar to the ones created following the banning of alcohol and later pot. Therefore, the argument is that it would create a worse problem than it would solve.
Regardless of where you stand on this issue, the conversation about gun control did not end with the recent votes by Congress to do nothing in the face of the Newtown Tragedy. It is only beginning.