Guns in America, the 2nd Ammendment, and the desire to keep people safe

in #lifestyle7 years ago (edited)

Good morning friends, and fellow steemians alike. Today i want to attempt to tackle a very important, yet very difficult subject for most Americans to discuss without the discussion turning into a heated arguement. As the heading describes we will be looking at guns in America, our 2nd Ammendment rights, and equally important.... Keeping people safe.

After having watched yet another active shooter scenario unfold last week, I was deeply saddened by the news of a young man having bought a semi-automatic sporting rifle proceeded to his school and shot and killed many of his classmates. As the days continued to bring more information to light it raised many questions in me. As time continued i kept thinking about it and decided i would attempt to address those questions, while also attempt to explain this for those who are not familliar with our "bill of rights" as a U.S. citizen. So i think perhaps that is where i should begin, with a summary of our bill of rights.

For anyone who is unaware, we here in the U.S. have a constitution. Within that constitution is included a "bill of rights". These rights were created to protect the citizens from our government, should our government ever try and rule against the will of the citizens. when created the "bill of rights" consisted of ten original rights to protect the citizens. Since it's creation there have been several more rights ammended to that bill of rights. Today i believe we have 27 ammendments granting our citizens protection. the most well known of these rights are most likely: article 1 : the right to free speech, Article 2(the one i am going to talk about today) the right to keep and bear arms, and Article 13 the abolisment of slavery or involuntary indentured servitude, except as punnishment for crimes. Most Americans hold these rights as an important part of our lives, even in the event they do not realize it. Especially those three rights i mentioned. So now that you have a little understanding of our citizens rights, lets try and tackle these issues i mentioned earlier.

Our founding fathers who wrote the constitution and bill of rights knew how important it was that the citizens were able to not only have the right to free speech, but that we had the right to defend our rights with weapons in the event we ever needed to take control of our government were it to go astray of representing our citizens. We, the United states citizens have always been a nation of guns. To be honest there are about 10 firearms to each citizen. At first hearing that you might think that is insane... like whay does everybody in america own 10 guns? Well, we don't.. not every American owns firearms. Many choose not to own them for a variety of reasons, and that is ok. Then there are gun enthusiasts, and collectors. Many of these people may own a small armory of guns and ammunition, also for a variety of reasons, and that too is ok. Too be honest, there isn't an issue with guns, or gun ownership for anyone in America about 98% of the time. Honestly 98% of the time gun owners and non gun owners work side by side, are neighbors with one another, go to church, the movies, vacation in the same places, dine out at the same restaurants, etc.. with no issues. To be honest, most non gun owners might be suprised at how many guns they come in contact with each day and don't even know it. We have what is called "concealed carry permits" in our country. if i am not mistaken all 50 states have some form of concealed carry permit. Which brings me to my next point...

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The problem isn't with guns. It isn't with the overall number of guns. The problem isn't with the type of gun, or even with how many rounds it can carry. No the problem isn't even with the lawful gun owners who have the majority of these guns. Remember, the ones rsponsible for perpetrating these violent acts of gun violence against innocent people is less than .001% of the overall population, maybe less. Not to mention that the gross majority of these individuals had some sort of mental illness which led them to do what they did. So can we please stop with the gun control talk...as we have already shown that the problem isn't with lawful gun owners, or the guns themselves, but rather mentally unstable individuals. which brings us to the next issue...

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The problem is a multi-faceted one from my perspective, so i'll start with the one i think is the biggest problem, and one of the easiest to fix. The screening process needs to be streamlined, and all agencies need to have equal access. We also need to change the HIPPA laws to allow Dr.'s to be forced to report a patient's mental state to the database so they cannot access a firearm. We also need to make the denial reviewable, so that in the event a person who was denied previously due to mental issues can be cleared for gun ownership in the future once their Dr. agrees they are mentally stable and are safe to own a firearm. The same would be true of anyone who is comitted of a violent crime not involving a firearm. Those who kill a person while comitting a crime involving a firearm should receive a permanent ban from owning a firearm, but could be argued on a case by case basis if the individual wanted to prove their case and were able to show why they needed one. The next problem is also important. Lawful firearms owners MUST keep their weapons secured ALWAYS. if you aren't using it you need to secure it in a safe. I know far too many who think it ok to leave their weapons sitting out on the table, or on their night stand, or in their vehicle, etc... That isn't secure, it isn't being a responsible gun owner. If it isn't secured it can be stolen, if it is stolen it can be used in a crime. We as gun owners cannot complain about the gun laws if we are not responsible and secure our weapons. This next problem applies to everyone. If you see, hear, or encounter a scenario in which someone says something like they want to shoot someone, or they are going to kill everybody one day, or you see them killing animals in a manner other than sporting or for food you need to speak up. the authorities cannot investigate if a person should have their rights to gun ownership taken away or not if you don't speak up and tell them what you know. This last issue is one that kind of shocked me actually... in this latest incident the F.B.I. dropped the ball on this kid. this tragedy could possibly have been prevented had the F.B.I desk jockey had passed the info on to the Miami field office. Law enforcement must treat these reportings seriously no matter if 90% of them turn out to be mistaken. They must actively investigate these reports as soon as they come in, because we never know what the window of time is between the reporting of the incident, and the actual event of the person becoming an active shooter..

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Sorry if i ran long, but i feel that this issue needs to be addressed in a sensible way. If you have any thoughts or constructive ideas please feel free to comment. Thank-You for reading.

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Most people don't know about the Clackamas Town Center shooting because it was quickly overshadowed by Sandy Hook. But it was a situation which could easily have ended up with dozens dead. Why didn't it get worse? Because a man with a concealed carry permit had the shooter covered for most of the time and the shooter decided it was unwise to keep firing.

Unfortunately, the truth is that when you outlaw guns, only outlaws have guns... and this is especially true in our schools.

Thanks for sharing. So many people, both in the US and abroad, have no idea why the 2nd Amendment is so important. (And yes, even assault rifles are included because the colonists had a tyrannical government to contend with - they wanted us to always be able to defend ourselves, even against a big government.)

 

i wonder if i bought a tank if they would consider that an acceptable form of arms to protect myself from liberals who want to take my guns? but in all seriousness, you are correct. I just get so tired of hearing people beat the "gun control" drum... i fully understand where it comes from. the liberals want nothing more than to grow the government to control peoples lives from cradle to grave, but i'll be damned if i don't go down without a fight damn it!! Most people do not know that is is the duty of the citizens to disband the government and form a new one in the event that the government no longer serves the will of the people. how are you going to do that if you no longer have weapons?

lol - yes, a tank would be fun, right? Just greater firepower, after all... However, I've never heard the forefathers arguing that the 2nd Amendment meant they could have cannons. :-p (but I'm not a historian.)

I agree with you totally. And people in other countries (particularly the UK where I was for many years) think that because they do not see gun violence flashed on the news all the time (except from the US) that gun control "worked" over there. We have been taught by our society to fear our neighbor and trust our government, when our country was founded on the opposite.

LOL, this is one of my favorite flavors of rants you hear from people calling for gun control, the one where they call for all the laws that we already have that didn't work. A doctor already has to report a dangerous patient and anyone adjudicated as insane is not allowed to buy a legal gun and anyone convicted of domestic violence or a felony has a lifetime legal gun ban.
None of these type of things work because they only impact the 99.9997% of gun owners who don't commit gun crimes, not the 1 in 10,000 people who is a habitual gun criminal.

The background check is a joke, nothing happens if you fail so if you have ill intent then you can go buy a gun on the black market. What is the point?

You do realize that we do not have a uniform system of database in which all members selling firearms can access across the entire country right? Aside from the basic background check system that is used there is nothing that currently prohibits a mentally ill individual from posessing a firearm. I agree with you that the problem is not with the legal and lawful gun owners. However, the point is... we can do better to protect those innocent people who end up being targeted by a mentally unstable person weilding a firearm with intent to do harm. For us as gun owners to simply stick out heads in the sand and say "not my guns" is an old and outdated concept. As gun owneers we have to come to the table and work to find solutions. If we fail to do that then laws and anti firearm laws will be enacted and rightly so... because we didn't sit at the table and work out a reasonable compromise. You are welcome to be flippant and derriding of this viewpoint, but by not ntering into a real dialogue nothing will ever get solved but more unnecessary gun laws that already do not stop the criminal element from obtaining weapons....including stolen firearms from lazy, non engaging firearm owners. instead of opening your mouth to condemn the effort maybe you should add ideas to this conversation... you know help develop ideas that work, that would be a step in the right direction. I agree with you though, a person intent of using a firearm in the act of comitting a crime is going to find a way to do so....but the point is that we make it as difficult as possible for that individual to carry out their intent...

"You do realize that we do not have a uniform system of database in which all members selling firearms can access across the entire country right? "

False, we have had a nationwide NICS system of background checks, a database maintained by the FBI.

Aside from the basic background check system that is used there is nothing that currently prohibits a mentally ill individual from posessing a firearm.

Except of course for the federal law that prohibits anyone adjudicated as mentally ill from possessing a firearm.

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/identify-prohibited-persons

I agree with you that the problem is not with the legal and lawful gun owners.

Good, that is a great place for us to find common ground.

However, the point is... we can do better to protect those innocent people who end up being targeted by a mentally unstable person weilding a firearm with intent to do harm. For us as gun owners to simply stick out heads in the sand and say "not my guns" is an old and outdated concept. As gun owneers we have to come to the table and work to find solutions. If we fail to do that then laws and anti firearm laws will be enacted and rightly so... because we didn't sit at the table and work out a reasonable compromise. You are welcome to be flippant and derriding of this viewpoint, but by not ntering into a real dialogue nothing will ever get solved but more unnecessary gun laws that already do not stop the criminal element from obtaining weapons....including stolen firearms from lazy, non engaging firearm owners. instead of opening your mouth to condemn the effort maybe you should add ideas to this conversation... you know help develop ideas that work, that would be a step in the right direction. I agree with you though, a person intent of using a firearm in the act of comitting a crime is going to find a way to do so....but the point is that we make it as difficult as possible for that individual to carry out their intent...

But my point was that failing a background check does not make it difficult for someone who is not allowed to possess a gun to buy one, it just delays them a little at best. The kids at the middle school I taught at could all get a gun delivered with a text in 20 minutes or know someone who could if they ever wanted one. I can't believe that a person who had intent to commit mass murder would simply give up if they were denied a gun sale so the whole idea seems silly to me. The problem with your idea of wanting to go to the table and compromise is problematic because that is saying that gun control is in fact a solution to the problem of crazy people on drugs that cause suicidal actions going on shooting sprees. Maybe if someone is too crazy and dangerous to buy a gun they are too crazy and dangerous to walk around and buy gasoline and chains and rent Home Depot trucks?

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