Mediaboss Marketing

It was difficult in the past few weeks to witness the mass shootings at a Nashville schoolhouse and a Louisville bank, both committed by disturbed individuals who had far too easy access to assault-style weapons.

It was equally hard to witness the assault on democracy perpetrated by Republican members of the Tennessee House of Representatives who temporarily expelled two Democratic colleagues for loudly demonstrating for stricter gun control.

The Second Amendment was intended to prevent the federal government from interfering with well-regulated state militias, but its abuse today too often encourages the slaughter of innocent citizens.

It is shameful enough that we are so willing to sacrifice our children and neighbors and our sense of safety in defense of a Constitutional right whose original intent has been obscured. Must we also sacrifice the very Constitution that so many gun advocates say they need their firearms to defend?

Benjamin Wood, chair Sangerfield Democratic Committee

Continued here:
LETTER: Original intent of Second Amendment being obscured - Rome Sentinel

When you have a disease, medicine can treat the symptoms and you might feel better. But if the underlying cause of the symptoms is not treated the disease will continue to cause symptoms.

We have gun disease in America. For decades now, gun violence is happening with greater frequency. Theres a lot of talk about how to treat the symptoms: arm school teachers, arm everybody, blame it on the mentally ill and more excuses and Band-Aids. Yet nobody talks about the primary cause of our disease, which is the Second Amendment.

The Second Amendment was written in the 18th century, when the new country had neither a regular army nor local police enforcement. It was also a time of muskets. The second amendment is outdated, and even more so now in the 21st century. We need a new amendment. It could simply say: The right to bear arms shall be well regulated. We already have precedents where new amendments cancelled previous amendments. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment prohibiting the sale or drinking of alcohol. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery that was implied in the original Constitution.

Its time that we the people address the underlying cause of our national sickness. Our national gun disease needs treatment. The treatment is a gun control amendment.

Richard HackelChebeague Island

Invalid username/password.

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

Previous

Next

See original here:
Letter to the editor: A new amendment can repeal the Second ... - Press Herald

Following the school shooting in Nashville, State Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn., District 2) went viral for making comments like were not gonna fix it criminals are gonna be criminals and mentioning how his father, a World War II veteran, told him if somebody wants to take you out, and doesnt mind losing their life, theres not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it. Burchett also explained Americas high level of gun violence by stating Other countries dont have our level of freedom either.

Comparing the war in the Pacific in 1944 to an elementary school today is both inaccurate and deeply concerning. Its inaccurate since war is a situation where it is permissible to kill others to achieve an objective that is ideally worth more than the lives it will take. Elementary school is not a place where adages about war should be applied, especially if its to dismiss what we could do to prevent such violence. The fact some think such adages are appropriate shows the current situation is untenable.

Furthermore, what does freedom mean in Burchetts mind? Does it mean other countries do not have a constitutional right to bear arms? If so, he is mostly correct. In every other regard, however, other Western countries freedoms stack up to the U.S. exceed it perhaps, since one cannot effectively exercise their freedoms while suffering or dying from a debilitating gunshot wound.

The right to bear arms is a questionable measure of freedom. I am not here to say guns should be banned outright. Although I wish I could snap my fingers and have all weapons designed to eliminate humans disappear, there are far too many firearms to properly regulate. However, that does not mean we should sweep aside smaller, phased goals. For now, a more serious discussion about banning assault rifles, or about banning future commercial sales of these weapons, needs to occur.

I will admit right here I know way too little about hand-held firearms to properly engage in this debate. Rep. Burchett is right when he says criminals are going to find a way around existing laws to acquire guns, so I believe we should make the deadliest guns as scarce as possible to decrease the chances they would fall into the wrong hands. My current opinion is assault rifles, and eventually all assault weapons, should be banned. The same goes for accessories like high-capacity magazines, which are useful for a shooter trying to kill as many people as possible, but dead weight while defending against one or two attackers at home or in public. The police, of course, will still have access to the weapons they need to protect against and respond to threats.

Increased numbers of school resource officers or other armed guards may act as a stopgap, but an expensive one at that, especially considering there is little evidence of their presence deterring attacks. At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and in other major school shootings in 2018 where an SRO or guard was present, the shooter was stopped by the guard or SRO in zero cases. That is certainly not to say there are not heroic SROs or guards out there who could prove quite effective, but considering the number we would need relative to the number of school shootings (way too high to be acceptable, but too low to start treating American schools like forward operating bases in an active war zone), this should not be our end goal. Shortening active shooter incidents would be great but preventing them would be even better.

My main issue, however, is this debate is not happening in the manner it should. People are making uninformed comments that do not address other peoples points. At the congressional level, we have the NRA to thank for that, but at the personal level, we should stop using blanket statements to shut down our opponents arguments.

Read the original:
Does Second Amendment rhyme with freedom? - Waite Park Newsleader

Country

United States of AmericaUS Virgin IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsCanadaMexico, United Mexican StatesBahamas, Commonwealth of theCuba, Republic ofDominican RepublicHaiti, Republic ofJamaicaAfghanistanAlbania, People's Socialist Republic ofAlgeria, People's Democratic Republic ofAmerican SamoaAndorra, Principality ofAngola, Republic ofAnguillaAntarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S)Antigua and BarbudaArgentina, Argentine RepublicArmeniaArubaAustralia, Commonwealth ofAustria, Republic ofAzerbaijan, Republic ofBahrain, Kingdom ofBangladesh, People's Republic ofBarbadosBelarusBelgium, Kingdom ofBelizeBenin, People's Republic ofBermudaBhutan, Kingdom ofBolivia, Republic ofBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana, Republic ofBouvet Island (Bouvetoya)Brazil, Federative Republic ofBritish Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)British Virgin IslandsBrunei DarussalamBulgaria, People's Republic ofBurkina FasoBurundi, Republic ofCambodia, Kingdom ofCameroon, United Republic ofCape Verde, Republic ofCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChad, Republic ofChile, Republic ofChina, People's Republic ofChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombia, Republic ofComoros, Union of theCongo, Democratic Republic ofCongo, People's Republic ofCook IslandsCosta Rica, Republic ofCote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of theCyprus, Republic ofCzech RepublicDenmark, Kingdom ofDjibouti, Republic ofDominica, Commonwealth ofEcuador, Republic ofEgypt, Arab Republic ofEl Salvador, Republic ofEquatorial Guinea, Republic ofEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFaeroe IslandsFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Fiji, Republic of the Fiji IslandsFinland, Republic ofFrance, French RepublicFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabon, Gabonese RepublicGambia, Republic of theGeorgiaGermanyGhana, Republic ofGibraltarGreece, Hellenic RepublicGreenlandGrenadaGuadaloupeGuamGuatemala, Republic ofGuinea, RevolutionaryPeople's Rep'c ofGuinea-Bissau, Republic ofGuyana, Republic ofHeard and McDonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)Honduras, Republic ofHong Kong, Special Administrative Region of ChinaHrvatska (Croatia)Hungary, Hungarian People's RepublicIceland, Republic ofIndia, Republic ofIndonesia, Republic ofIran, Islamic Republic ofIraq, Republic ofIrelandIsrael, State ofItaly, Italian RepublicJapanJordan, Hashemite Kingdom ofKazakhstan, Republic ofKenya, Republic ofKiribati, Republic ofKorea, Democratic People's Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwait, State ofKyrgyz RepublicLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanon, Lebanese RepublicLesotho, Kingdom ofLiberia, Republic ofLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein, Principality ofLithuaniaLuxembourg, Grand Duchy ofMacao, Special Administrative Region of ChinaMacedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascar, Republic ofMalawi, Republic ofMalaysiaMaldives, Republic ofMali, Republic ofMalta, Republic ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritania, Islamic Republic ofMauritiusMayotteMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonaco, Principality ofMongolia, Mongolian People's RepublicMontserratMorocco, Kingdom ofMozambique, People's Republic ofMyanmarNamibiaNauru, Republic ofNepal, Kingdom ofNetherlands AntillesNetherlands, Kingdom of theNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaragua, Republic ofNiger, Republic of theNigeria, Federal Republic ofNiue, Republic ofNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsNorway, Kingdom ofOman, Sultanate ofPakistan, Islamic Republic ofPalauPalestinian Territory, OccupiedPanama, Republic ofPapua New GuineaParaguay, Republic ofPeru, Republic ofPhilippines, Republic of thePitcairn IslandPoland, Polish People's RepublicPortugal, Portuguese RepublicPuerto RicoQatar, State ofReunionRomania, Socialist Republic ofRussian FederationRwanda, Rwandese RepublicSamoa, Independent State ofSan Marino, Republic ofSao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic ofSaudi Arabia, Kingdom ofSenegal, Republic ofSerbia and MontenegroSeychelles, Republic ofSierra Leone, Republic ofSingapore, Republic ofSlovakia (Slovak Republic)SloveniaSolomon IslandsSomalia, Somali RepublicSouth Africa, Republic ofSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSpain, Spanish StateSri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic ofSt. HelenaSt. Kitts and NevisSt. LuciaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesSudan, Democratic Republic of theSuriname, Republic ofSvalbard & Jan Mayen IslandsSwaziland, Kingdom ofSweden, Kingdom ofSwitzerland, Swiss ConfederationSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwan, Province of ChinaTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailand, Kingdom ofTimor-Leste, Democratic Republic ofTogo, Togolese RepublicTokelau (Tokelau Islands)Tonga, Kingdom ofTrinidad and Tobago, Republic ofTunisia, Republic ofTurkey, Republic ofTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUganda, Republic ofUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom of Great Britain & N. IrelandUruguay, Eastern Republic ofUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet Nam, Socialist Republic ofWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambia, Republic ofZimbabwe

Originally posted here:
Editorial: Why 'Second Amendment people' should be at the ... - Wyoming Tribune

We cannot ignore mass shootings. We are, none of us, safe anywhere. Even most gun owners are willing to limit and restrict guns to increase public safety.

Whenever public attention for gun control increases, silly season for some gun advocates begins. Using the word enshrined, they describe the Second Amendment like a religious relic. Enshrined means revered as a sacred object. The founders wrote the Second Amendment into the Constitution. They did not enshrine it.

The preamble to the Constitution begins, We the people to form a more perfect Union. It tells us that no one part of the Constitution is sacred by itself because our union is imperfect, and we can therefore improve it. Immediately after writing the Constitution, the founders, striving for a more perfect union, amended the Constitution and contisnued the process 27 times. Congress repealed one of the 27 amendments. The 21st repealed the 18th Amendment Prohibition, a bad idea. State and federal legislatures have limited and restricted some of the remaining amendments. Legislatures have limited our Fifth Amendment right to due process with tort reforms. Recently, legislatures in some states are limiting First Amendment rights by banning books from libraries.

We can limit or repeal the Second Amendment because it is no different from other amendments. Guns are causing chaos in society and undermining domestic tranquility. The Second Amendment was a bad idea. Slave states feared slave rebellions. They refused to ratify the Constitution without the right to bear arms. So, the founders added it to the Constitution. In recent years, the NRA and Republican Party corrupted the Second Amendment into a worse idea. We can strive toward a more perfect union to insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves. We can do this by limiting or repealing the Second Amendment.

Joseph Sciarillo

Westerly

Read this article:
Letter: We need to limit or repeal the 2nd Amendment - The Westerly Sun