As the debate about gun control rages across the US, and even across the world (China for instance), it behooves us to go back and take a look at the laws that allow US citizens to own guns, and why. First, a look at the Second Amendment in the US Bill of Rights:
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.So far, so good. Now we ask ourselves, how is the militia defined in law? For that, we turn to 10 USC Sub. A, Part I, Chap. 13, Sec. 311 - Militia: Composition and Classes:
While you're checking my facts, keep in mind that the US Constitution and Bil of Rights was written on hemp paper, just in case you think hemp should be illegal and that the Constitution allows government to do that.(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
Source(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 14; Pub. L. 85–861, § 1(7),Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title V, § 524(a),Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1656.)
Now, a quick history lesson. During the American Revolution (Part I), the regular army was hopelessly outmatched in every way by the British army. Oh sure, they had some good strategists, but they were broke and ill-equipped, so when they marched onto the field of battle, they were mostly mowed down like a hay harvest.
What made the difference? A bunch of farmers with hunting rifles ambushing the British and wearing them down bit by bit. It was guerrilla warfare, much like what is kicking the US army's butts in Afghanistan and other places. Instead of everyone wearing pretty uniforms and lining up in a field and blowing each other to bits until the last man standing, the militia looked like farmers and non-combatants. They could blend into the population, be anywhere in a town or on a country road, and they knew the land in a way that a general with a map could never know it.
The writers of the Bill of Rights knew this and knew that governments that had a monopoly on power (like the one they had just defeated) inevitably become totalitarian police states. One only need to scan a history book to discover that fact.
So they made it a codified right that every member of the unorganized militia should be armed and have some basic training and practice in order to protect the nation from invasion...and from out-of-control governments.
Back in the old days, when I was a kid, we were trained as militia. I received my first gun for Christmas at 8 years old. It was a Browning .22 rifle, and boy was I excited! However, in order to quality for that gun, I was trained to shoot from the age when I could hold a gun. From my earliest memories, I was going out to the farm with Dad and other friends and relatives to plink can and bottles down at the creek. I distinctly remember my first real lesson. I was handed a .12 gauge shotgun and told to shoot a coffee can thrown in the air. I had a bruise the size of Rhode Island on my shoulder for a week. I learned really fast to respect guns.
Then there were the NRA camps. We would spend a summer learning to carry, clean and shoot all sorts of guns. We went to competitions to earn patches and pins for 50-yard, 100-yard and 150-yard targets. I earned my Marksman patch at 12. For a time, I could put a bullet through the hole made by the previous bullet at 50 yards. If it weren't for the spotters, you might have thought I missed the target.
My first year in high school was in a small town called Shiner. We all drove to school, though us freshmen and sophmores didn't have licenses. They sheriff didn't bother us unless we were being crazy. Pretty much every car and pickup in the parking lot had at least two guns and plenty of ammo. It was a way of life.
The next year, I transferred to a school in downtown Houston. Every Thurday, the skeet club met after school. Those days, there were probably 30 or 40 shotguns with ammo at school.
Never once was there a problem. No one every pulled a gun in anger or made threats. No one ever went on sprees down the hall killing and maiming. Maybe some folks thought about it, but given the fact there were dozens of other guns in the school, they would have been a damn fool. If someone ever tried it, they wouldn't have made it ten steps down the hall without having their brains decorating the wall.
Then there's folks like my idiot liberal sister. She's one of those bleeding-everything pacifists that would gladly hang a sign in her yard saying, "This is a gun-free home." Even mentioning the word 'gun' gets her all hypoplectic. Yet, when push comes to shove, she's more than happy to throw a cop at it, which is nothing more than gun violence by proxy.
Whether I point a gun at you, or I have someone else do it for me, the result is the same.
Now comes the question of things like body armor. Well, as I read the Second Amendment, it says, "well-regulated," meaning equipped. Therefore, any member of the militia should be able to own guns, body armor, silencers, etc. If the army can have it, then the militia can have it...by law.
So what's the solution to so-called 'gun violence' that doesn't cross the boundary of law? Easy!
All males 17 to 45, and females in the National Guard, should be required to attend training for some amount of time and be certified as militia members. Then, they should have to attend annual refresher courses. Finally, they should all be required to keep and bear arms at all times, just like the Swiss. If the simple requirements of the law were followed, no one would ever think of going on a shooting spree. They wouldn't make it ten feet without a couple of dozen militia members putting a quick stop to it.
Imagine if the law was actually followed. There'd be millions of trained and armed citizens everywhere. Anyone who thought of robbing a store or shooting up a mall would have to remember that they'd likely be mowed down before they could take two shots. The theater shooters would face down 20 armed militia members. A mall shooter would have dozens of well-regulated individuals ready to stop them.
The problem here is not the need for more laws, but proper enforcement of existing laws. The only reason why the current laws would not be enforced is because there is an agenda to rid the common man of his means of defense. And the only reason to do that is to allow government free reign in the public sphere without fear of reprisal.
At the moment, there are millions of law-abiding gun owners in the US. This fact alone has forced the government to attack rights by stealth and by propaganda. Without all those gun owners out there, the bastards who like treating people like slaves would have free reign. They wouldn't have to nibble at the people's rights, they could gulp until satiated and no one could stop them.
Like the old saying goes, "If you criminalize guns, then only criminals would have them." We can safely assume that government wants to ban guns in the hands of everyone except government agents. So what does that make the agents? Why, criminals of course.
By the same token, any government that bans guns is protecting itself, not the people.
A free man defends himself. A slave is defended by his owner. We are either property, or we are free individuals. Take your choice. The battleground is the right to be armed and defend yourself and your family.
And if you are worried about school shootings, then home school your children. You will all be better off. After all, the first school shooting in the US was Kent State, and the 'authorities' were the bad guys.
