The Second 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."  This is the wording of the second amendment as passed by Congress.  When it came to the states to ratify this amendment, it was changed slightly to; "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."  Slightly different but the same general idea.

For decades organizations like the National Rifle Association have touted their "right to bear arms" as being a constitutional right.  In looking at the amendment, it certainly does give the right to bear arms but it does not give that right exclusively.  Look at the beginning of the sentence.  The part that organizations like the NRA ignore.  It says that a well regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state.  Remember, this was written at a time when the United States did not have much of a standing army.  We were not the most powerful nation on the planet yet.  And many people lived in what we would now call the wilderness.  They needed to be able to protect themselves.

All of that has changed.  Today we have a military.  We have police departments at the city, county and state levels.  We have a national guard.  We are very well protected and we no longer need individual citizens to make up our militia.  However, there is a large population of our citizens who believe that they still have the right to bear arms.

So, in all fairness, we must follow the amendment as it is written.  I propose that all gun owners must register their weapons with their local police department.  That registration is to be sent to the federal government where a listing will be kept of who has which weapons and where they live.  Once that information has been compiled, then it will be disseminated to the military recruiters throughout the country, who will then go to the homes of the gun owners and escort them to their nearest military base for basic training and to begin their service to their country.  

A militia is an organization of citizens who are required to assist the military in time of need.  Our citizens cannot assist the military if they are not properly trained and basic training will take care of that.  Of course they will be paid for their time.  They will receive the exact same payment as anyone else going through basic training.  Once the training is complete, they will be allowed to return to their homes and their jobs and their lives but they must report to their commander once per month the way any reserve soldier would.   They will report, gun in hand and serve their country.  This service is until death or for as long as they own a gun, whichever comes first.

This is the price for owning a weapon, as is spelled out in the constitution.  Since the gun lobbyists and activities insist on calling upon their second amendment rights, let them live up to what the second amendment actually says.