The Second Amendment

Early America did not maintain a large permanent standing army.  Instead, they relied on a citizen militia to provide their own weapons when called to serve.  Responding to such calls were regarded as a civic right.  Furthermore, settlers had a genuine need for a personal weapon for daily needs, such hunting wild game and protecting themselves and their families from predators, such as wolves, bears, and foxies.  In addition, there was need for protection of property.

My research indicates that today between 42 to 44% of householders have a gun in their home.  The explanation given for having a gun is about 70% for personal and home protection, 32% for hunting, and 20% for sport shooting.  

What specifically does the right to own a gun mean today?  A general answer is that law-abiding individual citizens have a right for lawful purposes.  However, that includes permissible limits and restrictions.  In fact, there are thousands of laws imposed on ownership of guns throughout America.    They include gun ownership, public carrying, regulations on discharging weapons, commercial sales, gunpower storage, licensing, and more.

So, what is my point?  Am I some expert on guns?  The answer is no.  I am definitely no expert.  My point is this:  Gun violence in 2025 has terrible statistics.  How many times this year have you been listening to the news and heard some gun tragedy.               

 My blogs are nearly always something that I find worth thinking about, and considering the gun violence in 2025 certainly meets that standard.  Here are the recent statistics I found:  Total gun deaths:  42,348.  In separate categories:  Homicides more that 28,000 Children and Teens, 1,256 under 18; Mass Shootings:  408 incidents, resulting in 358 to 359.  This does not include suicides.  

Americans are not anti-guns, at least most of us are not.  The question is, given the number of tragedies involving guns, should we be doing something different?  People are actually thinking about it, and here are some of their ideas:

Firearms Purchaser Licensing; Permits to Purchase; Age Restrictions; Assault Weapons and High  Capacity  Magazine Bans; Universal Background Checks; Flag laws to protect individuals showing signs of self harm; Stricter Safe Storage laws and Owner responsibility laws.

These are only a few examples I found, and some of them are being implemented.  My purpose is only food for thought.

What is important is that we recognize that the Second Amendment does not mean that every one of us has an absolute right to a gun, and not every kind of military weapons should be available to those not in the military.  What we are doing to protect school children and people who show obvious signs of depression must be improved.  Our world is changing, and things I would never have imagined have happened.  Are there things we need to reconsider about access to guns, and to the current gun laws?