What makes 'me-qualified' to weigh in-on this highly charged issue? We're all qualified fellow-travelers, because all of us at any time can become a mass-shooting statistic...
Sandy Hook [2012] should have been my tipping point, but it was so horrific I expected the mangers/politicians we/voters hire to serve in a public office, would step up. I expected them to address all the 'holes' surrounding the sale of automatic weapons or the sale of weapons to people in therapy or on mental medications or with criminal records or at gun shows or online sales or weak background checks... But no that didn't seem to shake-their-world [enough] nor shake voters who proceeded one year later to reelect many of the same people during 2013 midterms. Years later, were mass shootings included as an election/social weakness issue in 2016? Nope, Trump proudly courted the misguided NRA, while Clinton remained mute.
Skip to the 2020 election and did we see gun-safety or automatic weapon reform featured as a campaign item - again - nope. AND, did the Earth shake during the 2022 mid-term election? NO, yet again, and not even after the amazing, cowardly incompetence of a dozen, supposedly active-shooter-trained police at Robb Elementary!
*The employees/politicians we/voters hire to manage the affairs of 'our' government are 'not' going to do anything about this country's MASS-SHOOTING EPIDEMIC unless 'we' vote them out/fire them from office [term-limits] and hire/vote for better quality people. People who will serve and listen to 'us' their employers...
Okay. So really, what is all the fuss about that the NRA keeps pushing gun ownership so passionately and intently? Do they have partial ownership or stock in Colt or Smith & Wesson or Sig Sauer, Remington or Mossberg & Sons, or Glock Inc....
One more time: taken in the context of the year 1791 and why the Founders were acutely tuned into the reason for The Second Amendment was 7 years of war with England for Independence [1775-1783]. So, in context the 2nd Amendment had more to do with preventing government [even the new one they were forming] from slipping into tyranny - than arming every farmer, tailor, baker, and candle stick maker, present or future.
The Second Amendment was based partially on the right to keep and bear arms in English common law and was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Sir William Blackstone described this right as an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self-defense and resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state.[12] While both James Monroe and John Adams supported the Constitution being ratified, its most influential framer was James Madison. In Federalist No. 46, Madison wrote how a federal army could be kept in check by the militia, "a standing army ... would be opposed [by] militia." He argued that State governments "would be able to repel the danger" of a federal army. He contrasted the federal government of the United States to the European kingdoms, "afraid to trust the people with arms", and assured that "the existence of subordinate governments ... forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition. [Wikipedia, 2024]
In the end, the ratification convention was so evenly divided between those for and against the Constitution that the federalists agreed to the Bill of Rights to assure ratification. In United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the Supreme Court ruled that, "The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second Amendments means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress and has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National Government." [Wikipedia, 2024]
In the 21st century, [2008] District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held the amendment protects an individual's right to keep a gun for self-defense. This was the first time the Court had ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own a gun. [Wikipedia, 2024]
In Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016), the Supreme Court reiterated its earlier rulings that "the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding" and that its protection is not limited to "only those weapons useful in warfare". [Wikipedia, 2024]
The 2016 case was about a woman who had used a stun-gun for self-defense, but the additional wording "not limited to only weapons useful in warfare" became a literal open-season for the sale of any and all firearms even military styles and types...The unintended consequences of 21st Century Supreme Court rulings forced all policing agencies to create military-style swat teams across the country and placed all community police officers at greater risk.
What Now? I'm weary of people holding public office who are in the butt-covering-business instead of the business of serving in the position for which they were hired. Reality check: the last 20 years both liberal and conservative politicians have been quite 'constipated' by an endless pattern of clogged decision making but Congress IS still our constituted law-making body. Regardless, our hired [Congressional] managers seem to be continually floundering. Therefore, perhaps, we might offer them ideas for direction they seem unable or unwilling to take:
1.] All, of our 65 federal law enforcement agencies need to be networked. Never mind points for
2.] Background checks for the purchase of any weapon that shoots bullets should absolutely take time [45 to 60 days] to approve including on the form a detailed explanation of why anyone needs any automatic/military style weapon. I can understand a handgun or stun-gun for personal protection [though mace & pepper stray work just fine] or rifles for hunting - but we need to understand how any 'normal' person can justify an AR-15 that can fire 45 rounds per minute.
3.] All doctors and therapists must report anyone and everyone taking any medication for any emotional illness [including anger management] or medical condition [including seizure disorders]. They need to be denied the ability to buy a gun on a background check. Following privacy and HIPA law just the patient's Name with a simple Medical-Disability designation is all that would be needed. [How many times have we heard family members of mass shooters who relate their relative suffered from depression? But somehow, they were actually able to buy a gun legally including the woman who also had a criminal record - who went into the Lakewood [TX] church with her young son.]
4.] Standardize National Gun Safety Regulations. Presently, we have a patched system with each state on their own.
5.] All gun shows need to be licensed and all sellers licensed dealers and the sale of all firearms at all gun shows require the same background checks by retail stores. And - why isn't there monitoring of all transactions by ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives]?
6.] No online firearm purchases or kits, none, zip, zilch, nada...
7.] No gun patterns or gun parts for 3D printing.
8.] A comprehensive national mental health program. With call centers that friends or family can contact to get support for someone needing companionate help - but help if they could be a danger to themselves or others.
9.] Any adult [parent or legal guardian] who owns a firearm must keep that firearm in a locked, safe location away from any and all minor children [18 and under]. If not - then the parent[s] and/or guardian[s] shall be held accountable for any injury or death caused by an unsecured firearm.
10. Mandatory gun safety and gun proficiency classes. We must take driving classes then a written exam before we're issued a driver's license - why is buying a gun not regulated even half as much?
Because America's 'birth' began with a protracted, volatile struggle, that acute mentality continues to this day. I was born here, but with the advantage of growing up in Canada - I see the intensity difference and it's a stark one. But Main Street's nature brought and settled by the millions of [legal] immigrants who came with energy and innovation and creativity for a life of choices - seeks simplicity and joy and contentment and peace...
We the voter were too trusting and stopped minding the store [state & federal legislatures] so it's up to 'us' to ensure that the country Main Street honors each July 4th, the country our military, border agents and police strive to protect - is truly a nation to celebrate...
Sherrie Todd-Beshore | Substack
