GUN WORSHIP

(the following is a section of an article in this blog April archive on the right .... CRITERIA)

a first step in the reduction of gun Violence in the USA is to address and bring into public disrepute the culture of GUN WORSHIP ... and a place to begin is the NRA crowd's deliberate misrepresentation of the 2nd Amendment which they propose to revere and protect (worship).  We MUST take the serious discussion of the 2nd Amendment away from those who would distort it for their own profit whether it be monetary, social, or political.

GUN WORSHIP ... includes the ludicrous and erroneous notion that the possession and love of firearms is an expression of genuine patriotism and the implication that anyone who does not also worship at the altar of gun ownership is less patriotic (btw, I own guns).  Anyone who believes that our personal freedoms now, or throughout our history, have been achieved or preserved through personal decisions about the use of firearms is, in the most literal sense of the word, Ignorant.  (The issue of privately held arms being an effective element in the Revolutionary War against the British can be found in the article ... a JULY 4th NOTE to AMMOSEXUALS in this blog archive)   Apparently, they do not, or refuse to understand basic English grammar and the meaning of conditional clauses.  
The  2nd Amendment: 

Article [II]

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.

"the right of the people to keep and bear arms" is NOT an absolute stand alone statement or completely independent clause.  This clause is CONDITIONED grammatically by our very literate Founders' intent through the  clauses "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State..."  What part of "well regulated Militia" do they not understand?

An accurate reading of this language could be made crystal clear with the printed addition of just one word ... a word not printed because its meaning was implicit in the Founding Fathers' literacy ..... that one little word is ..."BECAUSE a well regulated Militia is necessary to the security of a free State .." etc.  It does NOT say, nor did the founders intend it to mean "any bozo has an absolute right to have all the automatic, semi-automatic, mega-magazine capacity, rocket launchers, etc, that he can afford and to parade around with them in public as if today's society has devolved into the old Wild West where everyone has semi-automatic weapons."

The right of the people to keep and bear arms was for the purpose of citizens of being called up into a well regulated Militia to DEFEND the free State, not to take up arms AGAINST the legitimate state.  Today, this function for the states is by and large performed by the various state National Guard units, and our National Security against foreign enemies is guaranteed by the Federal Government's armed forces which are the best and most expensive in the history of the world.

But at the time of the ratification of our Constitution, the Federal Government did not have the wherewithal to equip and maintain a large enough standing army and navy to defend the frontiers against foreign enemies, much less stock large arsenals in frontier regions which could be seized by an invading force.  Therefore, the well regulated Militia for the protection of a free state would be armed by the privately held weapons of the citizens.  The purpose of protecting the right of the people to keep and bear arms is clearly for the people to be able to serve in the well regulated Militia and NOT for some idiot to defy the legitimately constituted authority of our local, state and Federal Governments .... and to say otherwise is wrong, if not outright stupid.   And you do not want to live in a country where average armed citizens can defy the legitimate government, and if you do, move to  the regions of Africa or other Third World places where there really is no local civil order maintained by the government.

(more articles for your entertainment or irritation available in BLOG ARCHIVE near top right of this page.)