It seems that every response from the NRA for every massacre argues for in more guns in society. There are many who believe more guns make us less safe.
Why is it that those who own guns think that more guns are the solution? Guns are tools. The constitution is about rights of humans, not tools. The second Amendment is one sentence that talks about Militias and then guns. Militias are people, the reason for the guns. In our modern age, we have an army of volunteers.
Pro-gunners always argue that our country was founded with guns. We fought for our independence in a bloody war. The Second Amendment allows us to have guns to protect our liberty and rights. All revolutions are about risking your life to gain rights and liberties. During the revolution, the Patriots were willing to risk their lives against the British Army. For the first few hundred years of American history, guns were high tech and used more for hunting than war.
The 16th-19th centuries were a point in history when guns were needed to protect your life and liberties in North America. In modern times, peaceful protests can overthrow a regime, but there are still those who die in the cause of greater liberties for others. In the 1940s, Mahatma Gandhi showed that personal liberties can be achieved through peaceful actions. The same in the 1950s and 60s with Martin Luther King Jr. Nelson Mandela did the same for South Africa. Even the recent Arab spring started as massive peaceful protests. It’s the oppressive regimes that have weapons.
Why can’t the NRA learn from these examples of history? Guns are no longer needed to battle for rights and liberties. In our modern times, guns don’t protect liberties; they are the weapons of an oppressor or the insane.
Otherwise they are tools or adult toys that should be highly regulated like other items of technology, such as automobiles, motorcycles, boats, airplanes, etc. Guns are obviously as dangerous as these technologies!
Frank Paine
Writer, Time Arc