“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.” That is the 2nd amendment of the U.S. constitution; an amendment that has been debated since the mass shootings in Newtown Connecticut. Our freedoms are currently being put at the mercy of lawmakers who will make legislation to decide how to regulate this right. There have been many suggestions such as an assault weapons ban and increased background checks yet a lot of the bills make no sense because they make some guns illegal that are not assault weapons. For example, Senator Feinstein proposed an assault weapons ban that as Ted Cruz R-Texas pointed out; a Remington .750 which is a semiautomatic (pull the trigger one bullet comes out) is perfectly legal but when you place a pistol grip to the bottom of the gun, under the proposed ban that gun would now be illegal even though that grip does not effect the guns performance. John Johnson, a St. Mary’s County resident who attended a pro gun rally in Waldorf in response to this said, “The way they focus on wording of legislation makes it clear that they not only do not know about guns but they also do not know about the Constitution.”
The 2nd Amendment was not put in place not for hunting but rather for protection against tyrannical government. The gun debate has sparked a lot of rhetoric which has led to the passage of new policies; none of which provide real facts. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York who recently passed a strict gun ban used rhetoric to get it passed such as, “You don’t need 10 bullets to shoot a deer.” This shows that Cuomo does not know the real reason for the 2nd amendment and there has been much legislation like New York’s gun ban that has been passed using the same tactics. In response to the broad use of rhetoric Mr. Johnson said, ”Rhetoric is the Democrat’s secondary weapon in pursuit of control. They want dependent people to be dependent on the government.” With that said, it is not just a coincidence that states like Illinois that have the strictest gun laws have the highest murder rate. A criminal would not be foolish enough to mess with someone that might have a gun and so having a sign in front of a school that says gun free zone only lets criminals know that they probably will not be stopped if they go on a rampage. This is why it’s a shame that we protect politicians with bodyguards but kids with Gun Free Zone signs. In response to certain proposals to arm teachers Mr. Nines said, “There’s pros and cons. Positives, there are more people to protect students. Negatives, more guns are close to students.”
The ongoing gun debate many would argue will be damaging to our 2nd amendment rights but while our gun rights have been under scrutiny this administration has also passed laws that have been damaging to our other rights. Most of these have been in the form of Executive Orders from Obama. For example, the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) has been renewed every year since the Patriot Act and in 2010 when Obama had to renew it, he made a significant change that most people do not know about because the media and John Stewart have not covered it. In the new legislation, any American can now be detained indefinitely without due process. This legislation sparked outrage but the opponents became silent after a while for whatever reason. Other Executive Orders have included the 23 Orders Obama did regarding gun control. Many lawmakers have protested the President’s orders with laws of their own expanding 2nd amendment rights and even making it a criminal offense to follow gun control laws. Americans are definitely in the middle of a long fight for their gun rights and hopefully the Constitution will prevail.
While people are focusing on gun control here, it is the perfect time for the government to try to pass other bills on different topics since there will not be media attention over it. Our government is considering giving F-16’s, the most advanced military weaponry, to Muslim Brotherhood controlled Egypt. This is not a good idea as the Muslim Brotherhood has been a longtime enemy of Israel and the Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said they were “descendants of apes and pigs.” Since we are a supporter of Israel this would make the Muslim Brotherhood our enemy if they oppose Israel. The Constitution lays out exactly what we can spend money on and throwing money all around the world is not allowed. Also, Article III section III states treason shall be defined as giving “aid and comfort” to the enemy. Also, earlier this month a document was intercepted from the Justice Department that said that drone strikes on American citizens were legal. This could also be treasonous as the other part of treason against the US is “declaring war against them”, which some argue the President is doing with this policy.
In conclusion, the main purpose of the 2nd amendment is for self defense from criminals and more importantly government tyranny. We have seen this President push through legislation that has restricted our gun rights while also aiding our enemies. We have also seen Senators that know nothing about guns attempt to pass gun bans, and we have also seen government pass legislation that can detain us against our 6th amendment right. Thomas Jefferson once said, “The beauty of the 2nd amendment is you don’t need it until someone tries to take it”, and with those words of wisdom it is clear that the 2nd amendment is 27 words worth fighting for.