2nd Amendment Summary and Suggestions
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.
Having posted a number of topics on this subject which attempted to highlight some of the controversies, realities, and beliefs, I now face the challenge that any President or well meaning citizen faces in trying to suggest changes. Many gun loving citizens will react negatively to ANY change. That is a given. However with any journey to make progress you have to take the first step.
I began by acknowledging that the second amendment (above) is deliberately vague. That is a major understatement. Let's move the same challenges into a non-gun world for a moment. Here is a very similarly worded statement. I will try to work with THIS as an impartial beginning. This one is a problem in all modern countries:
"Mechanized transportation, being necessary to the maximization of a productive economy, the right of the people to operate motorized vehicles shall not be infringed".
Starting to get it yet? Here are some of the obvious problems with the above but this issue affects a much higher percentage of the population. I don't know many people who do NOT want to drive some vehicle eventually. On the other hand, with guns, I think it is safe to say that a higher percentage of people do not want guns than those who don't want to own and drive a car. In Canada and I assume the USA, motor vehicles, speed limits, and most highways are under provincial (state in America) control, not federal.
1. Implementing national laws like speed limits, minimum age and learning periods is more difficult
2. Controlling insurance nationally is also more difficult
3. What motorized vehicles are included - tanks; bulldozers; skate boards; boats; convoy tractor trailers with 5-6 trailers?
4. What about vehicles for sheer pleasure that are not moving goods or taking people to work? Are these enhancing the economy (other than providing some employment to manufacture them)?
5. Who regulates the sale and manufacture of the vehicles to assure their safety or effect on the environment?
6. How can we make better use of a lot of statistics on traffic injuries, damage, and death?
7. With ever growing traffic and parking problems, how many vehicles should a citizen be allowed to license to drive?
8. Can people with mental disabilities drive? What about a history of driving drunk or recklessly?
I think you can readily see the parallels to gun control. Some of these points (as they relate to normal driving of passenger vehicles) seem obvious. Some of the restrictions and laws that DO exist also are not considered to be an infringement to most reasonable people.
That does not juxtapose well to American gun owners. There really is no "logic" or reasoning with the most fervent gun owners. I know that neither I nor any other person who does not share their passion for guns and the belief that they are the "solution" to increasing mass shooting, has to address the rest of society. The audience must be those who know these problems either never existed in countries without a gun culture or in those who dramatically reduced it by controlling or eliminating the public's right to carry.
You have probably noticed that I have been delaying the toughest part - what to do about it. That's because I still have no real answers. I hope the next post will be the final one and that I can make a few suggestions, some of which will not be my own. The source does not matter - only the result does.
#thebrewsterblock
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