If the words “gun” and “freedom” belong in the same sentence, then it should be in this context: America’s gun culture is a threat to one of our most fundamental freedoms, our most unalienable right: the right to life.
[quote]The Second Amendment is an outdated concept from a past era: an 18th century solution that has created 21st century problems.[/quote]
The Second Amendment to the Constitution was part of the original Bill of Rights, adopted by the founders of our then-fledgling nation in December of 1791. That was 222 years ago.
Fast forward to today, and the Second Amendment has become an archaic and consequential hindrance to American society — an antiquated legal riddle whose relevance fizzled out during the times of slavery and the hey day of the British Empire.
The Second Amendment was appropriate during America’s infancy. This was a time when early American settlers worked and lived in dense forests and open countryside. They were open to attack by wild animals, British redcoats and Native Americans who resisted foreign occupation of the New World.
Now, we use guns to defend ourselves against each other. Both sides of the gun control debate are known to manipulate the facts and thereby confound public opinion.
One example of such egregious manipulation is the false notion that the right to own guns is an issue of freedom over all else. I am a champion of the Constitution and the values that it instills, which is why I cannot stand for the manipulation of the concept of freedom itself.
The National Rifle Association, headed by professional pundits Charlton Heston and Wayne LaPierre, would have you believe the issue of gun regulation is about freedom and personal safety. They would have you believe the only thing preventing the government from robbing you of your freedom is your ability to own a gun.
Consider this: Owning a gun doesn’t make you any safer. Guns aren’t making us safer. They’re actually killing a lot of us at a pretty alarming rate.
According to a 2007 report released on GunPolicy.org, more than 270 million Americans own firearms: That’s almost 89 weapons for every 100 Americans — a total weapon count that amounts to nearly 100 times more guns owned by citizens than by our military and 300 times as many as those utilized by all our national police agencies.
Guns take things from us and they do more harm than good. They took a beloved president from us in 1963, a resolute civil rights advocate in 1968 and a cultural icon in 1980. But they take so much more. They take our fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends and colleagues.
Each victim of these shootings had the unalienable right to life. At what point did the right to bear arms trump the right to life? Are the lives of the children murdered in Newtown, Connecticut worth less than the right of a civilian to own semi-automatic weapons? How about the lives of the innocent movie goers in a Colorado theater?
Our technology has been forced to adapt to meet the demands of our ever-evolving consumer society. Our citizens have had to adapt to modern-day social, economic and ideological movements that have and will continue to revolutionize American culture. Our constitution should adapt as well. Guns are advancing; it’s time our laws start advancing too.