Looking at the feedback we get here at TTAG, it’s hard not to notice how passionate the discussion has become regarding the Constitutionally-protected right of individuals to bear arms. Even the previous sentence is enough to get the blood boiling of any card-carrying Progressive on the issue – because the left and right fundamentally disagree on the very meaning of the words of the Second Amendment. It’s that troublesome subordinate clause at the beginning that has triggered the same kind of furor that Christians and Jews find when arguing about the true meaning of the Sixth Commandment (Thou Shalt Not Murder vs. Thou Shalt Not Kill). For the record, here’s the complete, verbatim record of the 2nd Amendment:
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.
27 words that might as well be carved out of a tablet made from C4 when it comes to soothing the troubled waters of political discourse. But never having been one to run away from a fight, nor avoid using a can of gasoline to put out a blaze, I have a modest proposal that I think might change the entire landscape vis a vis gun issues. We should consider passing a law that requires each citizen to own – and be trained in the safe operation of – a firearm. Are them’s fightin’ words? Hear me out…
