Who Does The Second Amendment Apply To?

The Second Amendment does not apply only to the militia or the US military.

Anyone who tries to give that argument is giving a politically correct argument that has no value to the unlimited, or limited, ownership of firearms.

The anti-second amendment folks say that guns should be illegal because too many are in the hands of mean people with cruel intent, or criminals, or the mentally disturbed. The fact that some people cannot handle their emotions, or have drug problems which turn them to criminal behavior, or have psychological issues is small compared to the responsible firearms owners in this country.

True that these folks need help, not a firearm.

An argument based on emotion with little fact is not much of an argument. Those who are responsible firearm owners – hunters, target shooters – are tired of that argument. In fact, so tired we roll our eyes and don’t feel a response is necessary. It’s old. It’s beat. And there’s never any real solution offered.

Just make guns illegal. This leads to the bad guys having the guns while the rest of us won’t. This, actually, is a great argument for more firearm ownership, not less – so that the good guys have enough guns to fight off the bad guys.

And the belief that the second amendment only applies to militia doesn’t hold water either. At the time of the American Revolution – way back in 1776 – the militia consisted of every man of fighting age between the ages of 15-60 in every village, town, or city. These soldiers, or if you remember the Minutemen from the history books, supplied themselves: brought their own firearms and ammunition to the training sessions on every village green in the colony or to every battle against the British lobsterbacks.

Since then there have been laws passed which define, organize, fund, and consolidate our militias. That one particular law was the Efficiency in Militia Act of 1903, or the Dick Act.

The Militia Act actually creates two militias: the organized militia, today’s National Guard, which receives federal money, and can be called up by the governor of a state or the president; and the unorganized militia, all able-bodied gun owners ages 17-45 not in the organized militia. In other words, this second militia is the rest of the population.

That the idea of militia has changed after all these years, and that militia is under federal control doesn’t change the second amendment. That firearms have become more modern, with greater velocity and volume of discharge doesn’t change the second amendment.

The second amendment exists for “the security of a free state.’’ Since a military, the U.S. military, is under the control of the U.S. government, that military is under obligation to follow the orders of that government, no matter how tyrannical or democratic those orders may be.

We have seen our military sent to fight numerous times overseas in the war on terror. Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Syria. At this point many citizens are questioning whether the intentions of the US government are as noble as our leaders are telling us.

President Obama has said of Syria, “Assad has to go.’’  In Libya, Qaddaffi was bombed to death. Former President Bush told us that weapons of mass destruction forced us to go to war in Iraq. No one found the WMDs. These countries were no threat to us.

The US has become a bully to countries not under its control. Will American citizens be bullied? The efforts at control already exist: repeal of posse comitatus, NDAA, NSA spying.

How can anyone argue that the US government isn’t growing larger, assuming more power?  So, to keep a “free state’’ it should be necessary to have a militia NOT under federal control. Governments, after all, do need a watchdog.

One thing people do not talk about is the other half of the second amendment, which also tells us of the “right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

In the violent age we live in, defending yourself is becoming increasingly necessary. New York Governor Cuomo is right. It doesn’t take 10 shots to kill a deer. But it might take that many to take out the drug addicts that break into your home.

NOTE: In the second presidential debate, Hillary Clinton mentioned that the gun show and online gun buying loopholes have to be closed. In truth, there are no loopholes on buying a firearm at gun shows or on line.