Guns and the Second Amendment

Guns are an American institution. Why? I'm guessing that it is the frontier in all of us. The cowboy with a six shooter on his hip and a rifle in the holster next to the saddle. Living off the land with a handful of salt and an arsenal of weapons. Annie Oakley. Load up the wagon! Additionally, part of human nature is the feeling of power, power over others. A gun provides a feeling of power.

I understand those things, and have experienced them myself. I have owned guns. I've gone hunting many times (as a confession, I never did like the killing part and have only killed one deer – but I do like the walking around in the woods part) and have shot big halibut as a part of commercial longline fishing. I carried a gun in the woods for years for bear protection – the feeling of power (second confession, I realized the chances were much greater that I was going to shoot myself or my friends and now I carry pepper spray). But these purposes and ownership have never involved personal protection to kill someone else. This is my big disconnect. Most Americans own guns for the purpose of killing or injuring other people.

My second disconnect is the fervor over the Second Amendment. The “Right to Bear Arms” has become a belief system, a religion. I don't know about you, but arguing religion, unfortunately, is a waste of time. But, just for the sake of it, let's think logically about the Second Amendment. Do people really believe that our forefathers in 1776 were worried about everyone having the right to carry around a gun? Come on, people didn't go to Publix or Safeway to get food. They killed animals. Was the government at the time making sure that everyone had a gun to kill food? I don't think so. It wasn't even part of the concept. “Gary Wills once wrote, “Once does not bear arms against a rabbit.”” (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/23/120423fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=4) The Second Amendment was related to the militias of 13 “soon to be” entwined colonies. It wasn't until the 1970's that Americans were swayed by public opinion and the NRA change from “guns as hobby” to “guns as a right.” ( http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/23/120423fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=6 ) From there, it became an American religion. I urge you to read an excellent article in the New Yorker by Jill Lepore titled “Battleground America: One Nation, under the Gun” in the April 23, 2012 issue which defines the facts of the history of guns in the U.S.

It's so easy for our politicians to hide behind protecting the “Second Amendment,” as did my State of Alaska senators, Senator Mark Begich and Senator Lisa Murkowski (http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/murkowski-begich-vote-against-gun-bill/article_7be70a2e-a7fb-11e2-bfbc-001a4bcf6878.html). More interestingly, in our day and age, the comments are more revealing. I invite you to read and evaluate them logically and objectively. Good luck on that and I hope you write to me with an explanation.  Maybe our legislators need to be students of history.  

I suspect that if you've read this far, you've figured out what I think. Here it is. The reduction of gun crime shootings in Australia has decreased each year since it was enacted in 1996 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia). That is reason enough for me to subscribe to many of their regulations.  Background checks for any gun buyer is an appropriate action, whether it is a store or a show or a backyard deal. A “Genuine Reason” must be given on the application. An owner must have secure storage. Semi-automatic and automatic firearms should be outlawed. These rules do not preclude owning guns for hunting, collecting, pest control, or target shooting. But it does say and show that people shouldn't own guns to shoot other people.  

Maybe someday our legislators will be able to buck the NRA and vote for common sense.