What Matters Most…………Commentary
by Jim High
The
2nd amendment has been around for a long time, so what’s different
today? As a kid I went to movies full of killing and violence. What’s different
today that makes folks go out and shoot people in mass killings, to say nothing
of the 10,000+ handgun killings each year.
Well
for one thing when I went to the double feature every Saturday afternoon and
saw cowboys riding around killing cattle rustlers, I came out of the theatre
back into 1940’s and 50’s Tupelo where no one rode horses or wore a six shooter
on their hip. Today when you go to the movies and see terrible violence, you
come out back into real life that looks just like the movie.
Another
huge difference is television. We see murder and killing and craziness every
night on TV no matter where it might occur in the whole country. Seriously
watch the local TV news every night; it’s like the nightly crime report. I get
so tired of watching people walking between court and jail. Do we really need
to know about every idiot who got into a shoot out with some drug dealer? Why
is that news? Maybe I should ask why are other people interested, because I’m
certainly not.
We
having a huge gun debate in this country right now based on the mass shootings
of the past year. Most of the debate centers around the 2ndamendment
adopted on December 15, 1791. So what does it actually say? “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’s it. Seems simple,
but we have made it something very complicated. For example what does “well
regulated”mean? What is the intended use of the word “militia”? And what is the
definition of “arms”?
1791
was a long time ago. Today we don’t have a need for a public militia, and the
definition of arms is not the single shot pistols and muskets of those long ago
days. Today we have a National Guard in every state and a federal standing
army, plus a navy, air force, marines and the coast guard. But regardless of
the obvious extreme difference in 1791 and 2013, the 2ndamendment
has come to mean that as a citizen each of us has a right to own a gun, or
guns. But what kind and how many?
Certain
types of arms are outlawed already and for good reason. I just used a word that
no one seems to want to talk about – Reason. Is it reasonable for a private
citizen to own a gun developed for the military that can shoot 30, 50, 100
bullets before reloading? Is it reasonable for a private citizen to own 10, 20,
50 guns of all types? I wonder if people in 1791 thought the 2nd
amendment gave them the right to own a cannon.
Another
huge problem seems to be the fear of gun registration. Who fears automobile
registration? Or is scared and thinks it wrong for the government to require
registration of their boat? Then there is the issue of background checks. But
the sale of guns at gun shows and over the Internet and between private
individuals requires nothing now but the cash. Who thinks this is reasonable?
If you are sane, law abiding and not planning to kill anyone, you should not
worry about any background checks or even anyone, including the government,
knowing that you own a gun and what kind it is. I own two hand guns myself. I
keep one in my apartment and one at my home at Pickwick Lake.
What
Matters Most………..is that we have a serious gun problem in this country.
Admitting that must be a first step in getting to a solution. And we must get
to a solution. How many more mass shootings will it take to wake us up to
reasonable changes? The next mass shooting could be anywhere, even here in Lee
County. Do you want that? I don’t, not for here, not for anywhere. And I must
add that the NRA’s solution to our nation’s gun problem being just more guns is
total lunacy.
© 2013 #8 Jim High can be reached at P. O. Box
467, Tupelo, MS 38802-0467
