Whose right to bear what arms?

Okay — let’s take another look at the second amendment. It says, “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.”

Let’s leave aside the “well regulated militia” clause for a moment, which in my mind clearly establishes the government’s authority to regulate arms — and what would a militia be without arms? As the NRA and its field representatives (otherwise known as legislators) keep reminding us, the second amendment protects “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Notice — it says “arms,” not “guns.”

As we all know, the government already regulates arms, everything from automatic rifles and machine guns to nuclear weapons. Some restricted small arms may be available with special permits, but no one gets to keep and bear a rocket-propelled grenade or an A-bomb. And everyone I know seems fine with this arrangement.

Which takes me back to the “well regulated militia” part, because regulating a whole host of weapons is totally in keeping with the second amendment. Restricting the sale of “assault-style” weapons would be no more unconstitutional than restricting the sale of an Abrams tank or an F-18.

But of course all this is far too logical for staunch “second amendment” supporters to wrap their heads around. Even legislators in the NRA’s pocket won’t admit to understanding this rationale, although some of them may secretly acknowledge its truth.

So the bottom line is this: the government either has the right to regulate all arms if it sees fit, or none. If you vote for “none,” you may have another reason to avoid walking on your neighbor’s lawn — because it might be mined.

America must grow up before gun violence will end

Ordinary people don’t need semi-automatic, magazine-fed weapons, whether to hunt or for self-defense.

Notice that the Second Amendment refers to the right to bear arms, not guns, and the federal government has a long history of regulating all types of arms without challenge — and certainly no rational person would argue that people have a right to own tanks or nuclear missiles.

There’s not much more you need to say to justify strict controls on guns — but of course that wouldn’t be the end of the story. There are of course hundreds of millions of guns in circulation in the US today, and many are the kind that should not be in the hands of civilians. The sad truth is, no enforceable law that passed today would end gun violence tomorrow. It will take generations for Americans to mature sufficiently to give up the guns they don’t need for hunting and self-defense.

It is, incidentally, tragic that so many Senators will oppose the simple bill to require background check today, and I have a feeling we’ll see some of both parties lose their seats because of this opposition next time they’re up for reelection. It’s unfortunate, however, that we may lose a few Democratic Senators in the process — but it’s clear the NRA must be neutered.

Don’t blame the movies

When I was growing up, plenty of people died in films — in westerns, crime dramas, war movies, tales of knights in shining armor, horror flicks. And as kids were inclined to do, we made up a lot of games based on Hollywood entertainment. We routinely killed our best friends in mock army battles, gunfights, shootouts, and duels. Of course it was all make-believe, just as the depictions of killing in the movies we saw were make believe. We knew it was all make-believe. We were never inspired to really kill anyone by the movies we saw at Saturday matinees. My Quaker grandmother may have hated the fact that I wore a holster with a toy six-gun, but she’d be pleased to know that in my entire life I’ve never been even tempted to shoot someone with a real one.

So why should kids today be any different? Well odds are they aren’t. Odds are they’re no more influenced to commit heinous crimes by the movies they see than we were. But movies are a handy scapegoat for the NRA, which will blame the high American murder-by-gun rate on everything except where blame belongs — on the availability of guns that makes bloody acts of violence so easy for the occasional person who loses it.