The most recent school shooting which occurred in Florida is a grim reminder that we don’t live in a perfect world.
I have read the United States Constitution and the first 10 amendments many times. Having read them does not make me an authority, but still I, as others, form opinions. I wish I could decipher why certain words were used and what was truly meant in these glorious documents.
The Second Amendment has been argued for years and I truly wish that those learned members of the Supreme Court would take a position issuing a ruling that we could all live with. At present it is what so many schoolchildren are not living with but rather dying with. Twenty-seven words, three commas and one period at the end make up the sum and substance of the Second Amendment part of the Bill of Rights, ratified on Dec. 15, 1791:
Amendment 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.”
Does that right for security mean that the Militia shall be able to bear arms? Or does it mean that only the people can bear arms? The answer seems obvious, but many persons have different opinions about that those words were meant to convey.
I am not clever enough or have the law degree to truly offer a solution. This situation requires action now; the court should not sit on their thumbs and do nothing. It is in their power to render an opinion and make the country safe for our citizens and especially the children.
Automatic weapons, big clips that hold multiple rounds, bump stocks, realistic and enforceable laws governing who should be curtailed from gun ownership and other laws, rules and regulations have been suggested to keep weapons out of the hands of persons with propensities for domestic violence, child abuse and mental illness. I don’t pretend to know if these things could or would curtail the problems, but I do know that some reasonable, legal, beneficial solutions are needed now.
I agree that some people do the killing, not the weapons. But weapons in the wrong hands are lethal. My belief, right, wrong or indifferent, is that we, and I mean all of us, need to force Congress, state legislatures and courts to get busy, drop the petty arguments and solve the problems now.
If they don’t react to the need then we must act at election time.
