Assignment 4: "Revisiting the Constitution: Do We Really Need the Second Amendment?"

"Revisiting the Constitution: Do We Really Need the Second Amendment?"

Melynda Price is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law and blogs at Thoughts of an Ivory Tower Interloper.*

“…I am not sure this amendment envisioned the kind of gun toting that is permitted across this country in the last decade. The Second Amendment acknowledged the vulnerability of a nation in its infancy, but could not predict a world where some would move through life feeling more like targets than citizens.”

This quote refers to the Second Amendment: 

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

In her words, Melynda Price points out that when the Second Amendment was written, our Fore Fathers did not have in mind for everyone to carry a gun the way it is happening in the United States of today. She mentions the Constitution being written in a time the United States was still “..in its infancy” where the threats face were that of outsiders.

I chose this quote because I agree that when the Constitution was written no-one could predict how the world would be 223 years later; where carrying a gun no longer meant to protect yourself, your land, or your family from imminent danger. In the United States of today, as we see daily, citizens are instead turning these weapons on each other, not necessarily to protect themselves but rather for petty reasons such as personal vendetta. This effect is a result of the lack of restrictions for obtaining a weapon and how to properly dispose of weapons no longer needed or wanted. Anyone who applies for a gun license should undergo rigorous training on the how to’s of being a responsible weapon ownership. Moreover, those who legally own weapons should be equally guilty as those who use their weapons to commit a crime; as it is the case of the *San Bernardino shooters where their neighbor, Enrique Marquez, has been charged for allegedly “making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of firearms” used in the murders. The Second Amendment should be reviewed and altered to reflect the United States we currently live in and allow for a more civilized right to carry and bare arms. 

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/07/08/another-stab-at-the-us-constitution/revisiting-the-constitution-do-we-really-need-the-second-amendment

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/us/san-bernardino-shooting/