This post is different from what I’ve been posting so far, but I want to share my thoughts. This post is my opinion. Some people may not agree. That’s ok. We don’t all have to agree.
“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.”
Congress ratified the second amendment to the US Constitution in 1791, eight years after the American Revolutionary War. The state of the art weapons available were muskets. It took a well-trained soldier about 20 seconds to load their gun. Musket balls were lethal at close range, but are not very accurate from too far away.
Our country was new, and the Continental Army had been formed at the beginning of the war to allow for an organized defense against the British Army. Before that, the war was being fought by militias from each individual colony. We didn’t have grocery stores. People hunted for or grew their food. Guns were a necessary part of life.
Let’s fast-forward to 2020. Technology has advanced a million times over. We have electricity, refrigeration, the microwave, telephones, the internet, credit cards, grocery stores, etc., etc., etc. We have a more than sufficient military to protect us from potential threats. We don’t even need people in many circumstances to fight wars as unmanned drones can be dispatched to fire weapons that are infinitely superior to the musket.
And yet, we have automatic and semi-automatic weapons. These weapons serve one purpose – to kill people. A semi-automatic handgun can fire 40 rounds per minute. A fully automatic weapon can fire 600 or more rounds per minute. You can’t legally use an AR-15 or a 9mm handgun to shoot a deer or a turkey for food, nor would you want to. So, why are we so obsessed with having them. I’m no constitutional scholar, but I can’t imagine the framers could have ever even dreamed up the weaponry available to us today. They would not have ever considered this to be OK. We only promote violence from all sides with these weapons.
I’m not trying to say people shouldn’t be allowed to possess a firearm. I’m just asking, “Why do we need to allow such powerful weapons to exist?” The police argue that they need powerful weapons so that they aren’t out-gunned on the streets. So, instead of fighting fire with fire, why don’t we fight fire with water? Let’s de-escalate the situation instead of ramping up the wars that are being fought on our streets.
Again, I don’t want to collect and melt down all the guns out in the world. I do think, however, we should seriously consider getting rid of weapons whose only purpose is to kill or injure other humans. If no guns of this nature existed, we’d all be a whole lot safer than we are with them.