However, anyone with a comprehensive understanding of self-defense can tell you that guns are seldom used for defense. This is the myth that led to the NRA’s self-serving statement that “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Therefore, their argument goes, guns are necessary for self-defense. Not the least of which is the Cowboy mythology of the white-hatted hero winning a shootout with a villain. Yet, for all the violence driven by fear, there are many other factors to consider. Through their sleazy ads and propaganda networks, they have convinced many Americans to fear criminals, to fear people of color, to fear immigrants, to fear the LGBTQ community, to fear the UN, to fear their own elected government, and, most of all, to fear Democrats and those who would impose common sense gun restrictions. They have worked overtime to eliminate any restrictions to carrying guns. After all, they are the ones who have spent the last 40-plus years promoting fear in order to get elected and to sell more guns. Perhaps those best suited to answer that question are the leaders of the GOP and the NRA. Given all this, one has to ask: Why? What has gone so terribly wrong? What are Americans so afraid of? What happened to the home of the brave? Is it any wonder then that our police have become so militarized? In far too many crimes, they are outgunned. 50 caliber sniper rifles that can blast a hole through a cast iron engine block. The weaponry available to civilians even includes. In fact, there are now more guns in the hands of American civilians than there are people! That total includes more than 638,000 legally owned machine guns, nearly 20 million AR-15-style assault rifles, an almost incalculable number of handguns, and a growing number of untraceable ghost guns (many with so-called Glock switches that can easily convert a semiautomatic handgun into a fully automatic machine gun). But, then no other nation has so many guns. No other nation has anywhere near this level of gun violence. And nearly 25,000 Americans use guns to commit suicide. Nearly 40,000 more suffer wounds – many of them horrific and debilitating. ![]() And they would be horrified to know that a corrupt interpretation of the Amendment is responsible for more mass shootings annually than there are days in the year!Īccording to Gun Violence Archive, nearly 20,000 Americans are killed each year by homicide or accidental shootings. They certainly didn’t intend for domestic terrorists to stockpile weapons in order to attack political opponents and legally elected officials. In no way did the framers of 2nd Amendment intend for Americans to own weapons of war in order to shoot each other. That is the definition of “well-regulated militia.” John Smith and in Plymouth Colony under Myles Standish, every man was responsible to own arms and to regularly train as part of the militia. ![]() ![]() ![]() For instance, in Jamestown under the guidance of Capt. The idea of such volunteer militias originated with the nation’s very first European settlers. As a result, their intent was for each state to maintain a militia to defend against all threats both foreign and domestic. That’s because the framers of the Constitution were wary of a standing army, fearing that it could be turned against the people. You see, when the 2nd Amendment was adopted in 1791, the United States had disbanded the Continental Army and relied entirely on state militias for national defense. But only as a member of a well-regulated militia. Yes, it gives you the right to own and bear arms. Reading it in its entirety completely changes the meaning of the Amendment. The full Amendment states: “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 abridged.” Ask most Americans to quote the 2nd Amendment and they’ll recite some version of “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged.” But that is only half of the Amendment.
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