Guns ~ An American Right or Wrong!

Here is a controversial subject if ever there was one. The second amendment to the constitution gives us the "Right to keep and bear arms", and I am a very strong supporter of this right. But the truth is that it was written 235 years ago, and a lot has changed in that time. The world has changed, and more to the point, "Arms" have changed. Our forebears had no idea that weapons would change as they have. If they had gazed into their crystal ball, maybe they would have been a little more specific. When this was adopted, guns were guns. There was no real difference between military guns and civilian guns. And the fact was that at that time, people needed guns to survive. A large part of the average American diet came from hunting for game. People living in the major cities didn't need to hunt deer, but those in rural areas depended on wild game. There was real justification for people to have the right to have guns. And in times of conflict, they took the same gun they used for hunting deer to war with them. But we all know that things change as time marches forward.

You can make a very good argument that the advances in military technology have exceeded all other technological advancement. I'm not stating this as absolute, but I do contend that advancements in military technology have been astronomical. Too great in my opinion, but that is a different subject. When the second amendment was written, guns were single shot, muzzle loaded weapons. Today, we have guns that are fully automatic, fire 600 rounds a second and are computer assisted and aimed! I think most of you will agree that the right of the people to have and bear this type of gun is not what the writers of the second amendment had in mind when they wrote it. And allowing average people to have such a gun is NOT in the best interest of the people. Are you following me so far?

There are very legitimate reasons for owning guns. People have hunted since the beginning of mankind. They hunt today and I am very opposed to taking that right away from Americans. People have used guns as a recreational activity since they were invented. Today thousands enjoy trap and skeet shooting. They enjoy target clay competition and sharpshooting competitions across America, and I am also opposed to taking this right away from Americans. But there are those in society today who want to take all guns away! Why? Well it is not to stop the average American from shooting a "Clay Pigeon"! It is because of crime, public safety! And as typical with people, they don't want to take the time or expend the effort to look for the best way to combat crime, they want a blanket solution.

But making guns illegal will NOT solve the problem of crime. Suppose you wanted to eliminate traffic fatalities. Using this approach, the obvious choice is to outlaw cars! I propose that we look at the root of the problem, and design solutions that work. First, we have to define the problem that we want to solve. And I see that problem as the ever hated idea of "Gun Control". But, but, but.... The problem is not so simple as you might first assume. If we are truly going to seek workable solutions to this, we must go to the root. And, the root is the second amendment to the Constitution. The problem is that it lacks definition.

So, I see the first step as giving the second amendment some definition. Define what "arms" people have the right to own. Some work has been done in this area, but more is needed. I don't want guns that are designed for hunting and sport to be made illegal. And I want to see the people have the right to protect their homes and families. But, at the same time, I don't want to see everyone have the right to have ALL ARMS! Not to sound too ridiculous, I don't want people to have a "Cruise Missile" simply because they have the money to buy one. For the sake of argument, let's assume that acceptable definition to the second amendment is adopted. Is that all there is to the problem? I don't think so. Simply making a thing illegal to own will not stop people from obtaining it.

Next we need to look at where these weapons come from, and how they get into the hands of people in America. This is what I see as the real problem. Arms manufactures and arms dealers. Arms manufactures only make products they can sell. Profit is the bottom line. When a gun maker sells guns to a sporting goods store, they are not selling automatic military weapons. They are selling sporting weapons. But the weapons that we want out of the public's hands are these military grade weapons! Where do they come from? The answer is from arms dealers. People who buy them outside of the US, and smuggle them into the country. America is the worlds LARGEST arms dealer. We sell to foreign countries, and our government GIVS arms to other governments and to factions it supports around the world. You and I both know that many of these governments and factions are as corrupt and crooked as a dog's hind leg. Weapons and arms come into a foreign country and are diverted immediately to someone who will sell them somewhere else, the money going into the pockets of some corrupt official. Some of these make their way back into the US illegally, and are sold on the streets. But America does not bear the sole responsibility for this.

Russia, Germany, Israel and China also sell arms. Hell, the whole world is either a seller of arms or a buyer of arms. Our country has to accept more responsibility for the arms that it distributes around the world. Crack down on the source! Here is something to think about. KEEP TRACK OF THE WEAPONS YOU SELL OR GIVE AWAY! This is what I am saying. If the police in L.A. arrest someone who has some automatic, military grade weapon in their possession, the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT should have the capability to take the serial number of that gun, trace it to a specific sale to a foreign nation, and go after those responsible for allowing it to go into the illegal arms market. Go after those corrupt people who sold these weapons to arms dealers. And suspend sales of weapons to them. Hold the responsible parties responsible.

But, that is too simple. The solutions always proposed are to make the innocent pay the price for the guilty. The governments job is to protect the RIGHTS of the citizens, not take them away because it is the simplest thing to do. Americans have the right to bear arms. Figure out how to protect that right. Doing the right thing is not synonymous with doing the easy thing, but doing the right thing is always best. Elected officials are supposed to do the best thing for us. Don't allow them to take the easy way out. But this is only how this Old Hippie sees this problem. Give me your comments. Have A Great Day,

The Old Hippie