Bang bang...I got mine.

1. 

   
   
   Much talk has been made lately about Americans "losing our gun rights." As a liberal gun owner, I've heard everything from, "We'd all be better off without guns," to "I'm armed and you should be too." Both sides have valid points and I won't touch on any of them. In this blog entry, I'm focusing on the "losing our gun rights" argument.
   
   Ratified, the second amendment reads like this -
   
   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.
   
   - In today's vernacular, that means We The People have the right to drop what we're doing, pick up our M16, and follow President Obama's orders in Afghanistan. Alas, no civilian is going to do that and the President's not going to ask us to...because these days we have an organized military.
   
   Note: a well regulated militia (being necessary to the security of a free state) means that a representative of the state regulates your militia, ostensibly well. Otherwise, it's not a well regulated militia; it's a rag tag team of middle-aged (mostly white) men in camo, carrying semi automatics and noshing on beef jerky, getting together for warrior weekends and discussions on how to take back their liberty by any means necessary.
   
   How do I know this?
   
   Because fighting for your freedom by grabbing a handful of friends and blasting through the state Capital, is not securing the Peoples' free state. It's tromping all over their collective rights.
   
   Our Founders spend a lot of time around sitting around the table, possibly smoking weed, CERTAINLY figuring out how The People could best be served by a government Of, By, and For us. The Founders came up with a bucket-load of great ideas, a basketful of limited ones, and a few stragglers that need regular tweaking in order to work well in any given century/decade. What the Founders did NOT do, was conclude that if We The People decided the fledgling government was getting too big for its britches, We could legally and justifiably storm their homes on US soil and massacre their tyrannical asses. What We could do was redress our grievances in the ways stated in the US Constitution (which is a different topic for another day, but to give you a general outline, it has to do with demanding transparency, grassroots politics, and movement revolution - movement revolution is the non-violent cousin of armed revolution). The Founders may have spouted off about a lot of things that sound wickedly awesome and bloodshed-worthy (Thomas Jefferson's quote about the Tree of Liberty comes to mind), but find me anyplace in constitutional law where it says We The People have a legal right to blow away our representative and his/her minions if they vote/behave tyrannically. We have a legal right to do a lot of stuff when it comes to crushing the snot out of government over-reach, but slaughtering our president, senators, and House representatives is not on the list. Anywhere.
   
   So...while it sounds badass to think the Founders gave us the legal green light for armed revolution against our own president, they really didn't, otherwise it would be clearly indicated in the Constitution (kind of like the establishment of a religion, which is also not in there).
   
   Which brings us to, "Then what in the HELL does the right to bear arms mean for us today?"
   
   Answer...we have a right to carry a weapon for self-protection (because the Supreme Court said so). So there. I can keep a gun and you can't stop me. In fact, I can keep dozens and you can't stop me. HUNDREDS...and so on. Bingo. That's where we're at now, kids. Unfortunately, thanks to the deplorable behavior of a few sick bastards, many innocent people have died in the past couple of decades due to mass shooting violence. And sadly, MASS SHOOTINGS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE ON US SOIL MAKES GUNS ON US SOIL LOOK BAD, EVEN THOUGH "GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE." It might be unfair that your adorable little .32 gets lumped in with some mentally ill dude's big, bad Uzi, but hey...guns are guns, right? Well, wrong. And we all know it. So, there are limits on our right be bear arms.
   
   Newflash - there are limits on EVERY right We hold dear.
   
   Alas, there are limits on our government too. For instance, no senator or House member or president or lawmaker can sign legislation reading, "No guns for you! - Make it so, Number One!" They could TRY, but it won't pass the vetting process, let alone suffer through the legal one.
   
   So, our second amendment is safe, right?
   
   Wrong.
   
   There is a plausible way that We The People could lose our right to bear arms in the US. Are you ready for it? Here it is. If enough Americans start an "anti gun" grassroots movement and it gains plenty of momentum (remember "movement revolution"? - here's a theoretical example of it in motion), and that momentum sucks in powerful backing from significant numbers in Congress, lawmakers, and (most importantly) The People...an all-inclusive anti-gun bill COULD be voted into law. "No guns, for anybody, ever. So sayeth the American People."

   
   But...but...but, how could that HAPPEN?
   
   Here's how. That famous lobbying organization, the NRA, which exists not to protect our second amendment right (surprise!), but to sell as many guns as possible...is biting you (yes you, fellow gun owner) in the ass. Every time the NRA lets a bloviating idiot like Wayne La Pierre speak up on behalf of gun ownership...more formerly gun-neutral Americans get turned off to guns. And every time that nutbag Ted Noodlehead (who crapped his pants and sat in them like that for weeks before his draft interview date to ensure he'd be turned away as "not mentally fit" - surprise! it worked) speaks on behalf of gun responsibility, more fence-sitting Americans come to the wrongful conclusion that all gun owners are poopie-pantsing lunatics (in the same way staunch gun advocates come to the wrongful conclusion that all non-gun owners are pansy-assed, nanny-statin' liberals).
   
   It's not fair, but it's life. So here's what you need to ask yourself - Is it more important for you to have your bunker full of guns and your distrust of the government...because that gives you freedom...or is it more important for you to step outside your private-Idaho zone and meet your fellow Americans in the middle for a sane discussion on responsible, respectable, reasonable firearms ownership? It really is that simple. Like it or not, the gun-idolizing, government-fearing, NRA-supporting fringe IS more of a danger to your gun rights than Obama is. Truth.
   
   So, think long and hard - like this liberal gun-toting hippie has. Step back, look at the Big Picture. The NRA has nothing to lose here. The more worried you get, the more guns it sells. The more guns it sells, the happier it makes it manufacturers. It will sell and sell and sell - thanks to your fear (the fear IT planted), and it will sell some more. By the time The People gather up the resources to beat the NRA (biggest lobbying group in Washington) and make "all" guns illegal...the NRA will have racked up so much filthy fucking lucre for the manufacturers it represents, that each one will simply go out and gobble up a dozen or two smaller corporations to make its own - exactly like how Phillip-Morris and the other cigarette manufacturers did when the smoking lobbyists lost to The People.
   
   If you're afraid of your guns being taken away, might I submit that your effort would be better spent worrying about other rights being taken away instead. Relax and trust the US Constitution, your guns aren't going anywhere. But some of the other rights you hold dear...they are. While you're focusing on your guns, the Powers That Be are stripping you of bargaining rights, privacy rights, and work rights.
   
   Your freedom is not at the tip of your gun barrel. It's at the tip of your fingers. Please stop worrying about your guns. Set them aside, pick up your keyboard, and start writing your legislators on behalf of government transparency and responsibility. It's your job as a citizen and it's a great way to keep lobbying efforts from clouding the view of Your White House.
   
   Thank you.