The Colorado shooting has sickened all of us. We've suffered enough of these mad, senseless attacks. Amid the sorrow and frustration, once again the debate over gun control in this country rages. Unfortunately this issue will not be resolved at this time. Gun control is a deeply embedded, hot-button topic in America. People are mostly polarized and few remain on the fence.
Yet what if the Colorado attacker wasn't named James. What if his name had been Khalid or Mohammad? Would Fox News be blaming the Obama administration for failure to protect the nation? Would this be a Bush, Obama or Romney issue?
Yet James terrorized our population — maybe not Washington, D.C., but this type of attack scares regular Americans — similarly as does a Shoe or Underwear Bomber. Why isn't this incident considered a terror attack?
Why is it acceptable for James to purchase 6,000 plus rounds of ammunition, which he used against Americans, when Homeland Security would (allegedly) be concerned if Khalid or Mohammad were purchasing thousands of rounds.
This is the madness of the NRA position. They defend a citizen's right to purchase assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammo, which makes it more difficult for authorities to protect citizens. James and hypothetical Khalid are both terrorists. Yet Homeland Security wasn't aware James was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. And, if they weren't aware of James, how did they know he wasn't working with Al Qaida or another extremist group?
The bottom line is we have spent trillions of taxpayer dollars to suppress radical extremists yet didn't know about James. We tolerate (with objection) the snooping into our email and phone conversations; we submit (begrudgingly) to removing our shoes, being groped and cooperating with insane travel restrictions, yet Homeland Security didn't have James on their radar.
The NRA enables terrorism. They defend and protect practices that allow anyone to easily purchase assault rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition and other types of weaponry.
The Second Amendment is clear: "... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Our Founders adopted this provision in 1791. When ratifying this provision along with other amendments in the Bill of Rights, they considered arms to be muskets, pistols or long rifles. These weapons relied on flintlock technology: range was short and they were generally accompanied by a sword or cutlass.
In battle a flintlock could fire three to four rounds per minute. James is believed to have fired one round per second. Due to the limited firing power, flintlock rifles were most effective when firing in volleys. This ties into the first portion of the Second Amendment, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state ..."
The Second Amendment was part of a collection of provisions to protect citizens of this new nation from government — not each other, as the amendment is applied today. Arms were to be used in a "well functioning" community militia to prevent the return to monarchy, dictatorship or the rule of England. Farmers, ranchers and merchants would fill the roles of militiamen to secure a free state.
Imagine Thomas Jefferson traveling from Monticello to Philadelphia. He would likely carry his flintlock — to protect against wild animals or a possible intruder. He would have one shot with his rifle, maybe a second shot if he pulled out a pistol — before reloading. Jefferson could not envision carrying a weapon with the range of a mile that could fire one round per second. With such technology in the hands of the Patriots, England would have been defeated with ease.
The NRA has used fear to mislead Americans about the intent of the Second Amendment. Their deception continues to aid extremists of all political ideology and mental faculty. I support the Second Amendment. The right of citizens to maintain and bear arms should be protected — but the arms should be defined as our Founders intended: flintlock rifles, pistols, muskets and swords.
Enough of the Constitutional Activism! It's time for the NRA to stop enabling terrorism!