What
Matters Most……………..……Commentary
by Jim High
Why write about Gun Violence during the Christmas
Holidays? Why not? Families are all together during the holidays
and what better time to think about and discuss this important issue. If your child attends a school, or you go to
the mall, or a movie theatre, or a church, you might be glad to have had that
conversation as gun violence has occurred at these places on many
occasions. December 14, 2013, was the
first anniversary of the school shooting at Newtown, CN. And this week I saw a cartoon on Facebook
with this little boy sitting on Santa’s lap saying, “Here’s my wish list for
Christmas this year, and it’s the same as last year.” The list had just one item on it – Sensible Gun
Laws. So I think this is the perfect
time to talk about gun violence in this country.
Let’s start at the beginning with the 2nd
Amendment to the United States Constitution.
It is one of the shortest and most direct of the amendments and it reads…..”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.” And while we are thinking of this one, we
need to take a look at number three also.
It reads…..”No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any
house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to
be prescribed by law.”
It is very apparent from reading these two
amendments that the United States of American back in the late 1700’s had no
standing army, no military bases, and no arsenals where Arms were kept. The 2nd Amendment starts by
talking about the need for “A well regulated Militia” since no standing army
was available to defend the country.
When soldiers were needed they would be called into service and the
government wanted them to have their own Arms.
The amendment makes it clear that they were allowed to have Arms between
times of need, and based on life in those times to use their gun for hunting to
provide food for their families. I doubt
much hunting for sport was done in colonial days. I listed the 3rd Amendment as
evidence that these amendments were designed to make provisions for a Militia
of the citizens to defend the country if and when necessary.
Finally we must also realize that Arms in the period
from 1776 up to almost the Civil War meant a single shot musket that required
loading the powder and ball down the barrel of the gun. And there are no court cases from those time
that tested the right of citizens to own a cannon under the definition of the
word Arms.
Fast forward into today’s world where it is
estimated that 350,000,000 guns of all types are owned by individuals. Right here in Tupelo we have a monthly Gun
Show & Sale. Our country’s gun laws
are a mess to say the least. I won’t
list the mass shooting in the year since the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown,
nor the total number of deaths in our country every year from gun violence. You can Google all that info for yourself,
but we all know that it is huge and it is awful, and more important it is
wrong.
I personally own two guns. I think it would be impossible to outlaw gun
ownership in this country and I don’t think it is necessary. But like that little boy on Santa’s lap in the
cartoon, I think we need sensible gun laws.
The vast majority of the country thinks so too. No private citizen needs an AK-47 or a clip
that can fire 100 bullets in a few seconds.
Most of us know these things. And
most of us know that gun violence in our country is out of control.
What
Matters Most…….Do we want to live in a country that has
a gun death rate that is 20 times higher than any other developed country in
the world? Did you know that between
1955 and 1975, the Vietnam War killed over 58,000 American soldiers – less than
the number of civilians killed with guns in the U.S. in an average two-year
period? We must grant that little boy’s
wish, and soon, so he can grow up in a country with sensible gun laws.
© 2013 #26 Jim High can be reached at P. O. Box 467, Tupelo,
MS 38802-0467
