The Gun Show
I walked into a sea of white males with a dappling of white women. Guns, magazines, ammunition and maga hats galore lay out on the tables before me. As soon as I entered the warehouse where the gun show was held, a deep voice called out. “Hey, lady come on over here. Don’t go away come on over, buy a raffle ticket.” I turned back and walked over to the long table by the door where a burly white man sat.
“What will I win?,” I asked.
”A gun,” he said.
Without thinking, I blurted out, “It would be just my luck to win.”
“You have to have a gun,” he insisted. “Everyone needs a gun, you have to protect yourself, your children, your home.”
“From what?” I asked, “I don’t feel threatened.”
“Well then, you can sell it.”
This time I thought and didn’t speak. “Sure, one more gun on the loose. That’s just what we need.”
The Second Amendment
The idea that we have to protect ourselves is an old belief strictly tied to the second amendment: The amendment states, “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.” Ratified in 1791 in the absence of a military, national guard or police force, the second amendment allowed settler colonists to form militia and use firearms.
Since the ratification of the second amendment centuries ago, the right to form militias has been reinterpreted to signify an individual’s right to own and carry arms. The white burly man at the gun show is strongly attached to the reinterpretation of this right. He believes guns are necessary for his personal safety. Unlike this man, however, I am frightened by the wide spread and unrestricted availability of guns within our society today.
Gun Control
There are more than 393 million civilian owned firearms in the United States, and in 2017, there were 39,773 gun deaths. These distressing numbers continue to grow despite the fact that the majority of Americans support some form of gun control such as restrictions for gun sales and use, background checks, stricter laws and bans on semi automatic weapons. Nevertheless, the National Rifle Association is adamant in its support of unrestricted gun rights.
Abuses of Power and Tragic Deaths
I question whether the second amendment is relevant today. I also question whether, in its broader interpretation, the second amendment has been misused to justify abuses of power and many tragic deaths thus rendering firearms the threat rather than the protection. As we move into the future, I hope we can achieve some forms of gun control, and that we can feel safe in a more peaceful society where firearms are rarely if ever needed.
