Time to Repeal #2 and #3

Amendment II

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.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The firearms discussion in this country is compounded by the 2^nd Amendment.  The notion that owning firearms is a constitutional right has made the waters very muddy and the supporters very adamant.  The National Rifle Association has taken center stage defending this notion, which is almost funny considering they are in no way a legal organization but are a trade organization promoting gun sales.  Their deep pockets have contributed to many, many political campaigns with the clear understanding that acceptance of NRA dollars assumes no support for gun regulations. 

I can think of no other trade organization in the US who is able to lay claim to a constitutional right other than the NRA.  The National Automobile Dealers Association, for instance, never entered the fray regarding seat belts, emission control, etc.  Each of those limits on the production of automobiles reduced sales and raised prices, but the NADA never squeaked.  The National Association of Home Builders never positioned themselves against new codes outlining safety in roofing, plumbing and electrical wiring.  But owning a car and owning a home are not constitutionally protected.  It is really amusing to realize that the right to shelter and transportation are probably more important in our society than the right to own firearms.  I’d add the right to not starve and the right to health care to that list.  But if we propose a review of limitation on the purchase and sale of firearms, somehow patriotism is at stake, our very form of government must be at risk.  Somebody somewhere is going to attack all these law-abiding gun owners and they must for the sake of freedom be prepared to fight for America.  And that of course is poppycock and balderdash.

Imagine car dealers lobbying and spending millions to support candidates that oppose seat belts, oppose tests for drivers’ licenses, speed limits, mandatory insurance, minimum ages.  Those dealers would appear totally backward and the antithesis of what is best for America.  As we have added more and more restrictions to owning and driving a car the number of deaths by car has dramatically dropped.  But if car salesmen somehow convinced every driver in America it was not only their right to own a car, it was their right to buy a car with no restrictions that would be unconstitutional.  Could car dealers make that argument?  Sure they could, if there was an amendment to the Constitution that gave every American a right to own a car.

So the problem is not the NRA.  They are doing what they are paid to do by gun manufacturers:  promote gun sales and resist limitations on gun sales.  Sadly they have pulled out the big hammer and claim that they do so as a constitutional right and have scared many gun owners into believing any limitation is somehow anti-American instead of anti-death by firearm.

We must eliminate the 2^nd Amendment if we are to have a rational discussion about limitations on the ownership and purchase of firearms.  I see no way around it.  There will always be those who have been convinced that the more guns the safer we are even though all the facts and all the science says otherwise.  Some gun owners led by the NRA have been convinced the earth is flat and the sun orbits the earth.  Until we take this totally archaic and anachronistic amendment out of our Constitution we will be stuck with this fear mongering.

While we are at it we may as well eliminate the 3^rd amendment as well.  Written the same time as the 2^nd for the same reasons.  To protect the militia and to protect citizens from the militia and from invading troops.  Neither amendment are needed today.  They both should go.  We spend an incredible amount of money in our budget each year maintaining a standing army, a navy, an air force, a national guard, a coast guard.  None of these folks must buy their own equipment or buy their own weapons.  We furnish them.  None of these folks are likely to show up at your door and demand that you house them and feed them.  We have huge bases and huge supply lines to take care of that.

Let’s repeal Amendments 2 and 3 and get on with the business of saving lives in this nation.  On the day after another mass shooting at a school, the 22^nd one this year, it must be time to say that the death of kids is more important than the right to own anything.  We must eliminate the argument that kid deaths are the price we pay to maintain the rights of some.  That, in my value structure, is sick thinking.