July 20, 2012

Kim Blanck

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights that protects the right of people to keep and bear arms. 

Yeah, why do we want that again?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a gun. I don’t even have cable. What would I want with a gun? Instead of a gun, I have an iPhone. This means that I can call 911 if someone bursts into my home to murder me. If dialing 911 takes too long, I have access to a kitchen. This kitchen has a collection of frying pans and knives, both of which can be used against my hypothetical attacker. I don’t need a gun. 

It seems like all “the wrong people have access to guns,” as former Chicago mayor Richard Daley put it. So, if you have a access to a gun, you might just be the bad guy. Maybe you’re the mom who shot and killed her two children in Tampa last year while their father was overseas. Maybe you’re the student who opened fire on his former classmates at Oikos University earlier this year. Maybe you’re just one of the gunmen behind the fifty Chicago homicides in March alone. Or maybe you’re the twenty-something who spit gunfire across a Colorado movie theater just this morning. All of these people have two things in common. Firstly, they could easily purchase a firearm because this is a Constitutional right. Secondly, they were pissed. Or crazy. And neither of those sentiments work out for anyone when guns are within arm’s reach. 

Yeah, why do we want that again? The Second Amendment was adopted in 1791. Things have changed since then: there are fewer wild animals to shoot and duels aren’t a hot way to go out anymore. It’s time to rid ourselves of this sickness. We had the privilege for over two hundred years and we’ve abused it. What would I want with a gun, anyway? 

What would you want with a gun?