Dear Sir:
The Second Amendment provides US citizens the right to bear arms. Ratified on December 1791, the amendment says: 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.
It is quite obvious to any fair-minded person that this was never meant to be interpreted in the same way today. The original militia member existed before the USA was properly organized; he was the citizen-soldier. The official militia of any US state today is the US military and state police forces. The right of the people to keep and bear arms could never have meant to carry automatic weapons because they were not invented at the time.
So, what personal weapons existed in 1791? Swords bayonets pikes and knives were used for close combat. Single-shot Matchlock and flintlock rifles, muskets and pistols were the limits on personal firearms. Nothing fired more than one shot, and then required loading with black gunpowder, wadding and a ball shot, more wadding, ramming with a rod to compact. Only then was the weapon ready to fire again.
We can be quite sure none of our ancestors or founding fathers thought for one moment the words used “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” meant someone could own and use a weapon that was capable of firing dozens of shots without reloading. They would never have dreamt that in the future, a person could walk into a school or any other gathering, pull the trigger, and kill multiple people. I doubt anyone ever dreamt or thought that anyone in America would ever want to do that either.
If they had at that time multiple shot weapons and schools and supermarkets and one incident happened, you can be sure those terms would never have been included in the Constitution.
America is a sick society, not just the shooters who kill innocent people. Most politicians and almost everyone in America is a sicko; even the president can be grouped into the same category. So, arguing that the killers are all mentally ill, we can say with some certainty that the Lawmakers, the president and many in between are also mentally ill, if they were not they would do something today to rectify the crisis Americans’ find themselves in. As for Senators who take payment from the National Rifle Association (NRA), they are not just sick but perhaps be classified as ‘criminals”. That money is Blood Money.
Firearms were used for personal protection and to ward off attacks by others. Today guns are used and owned by people who consider them adult toys — something to have fun with and to own sometimes as many as possible. You can only fire one weapon at a time, so why are there collections if they are not considered toys. Firearms were used to protect themselves from Native Americans and at some time the British.
Firearms beyond a single weapon for personal and family protection is all that is required of any man or woman today. Of course, the hunters should have their hunting rifle, and a limited assortment of different gauge shotguns, perhaps. There is no longer a threat of invasion by the British, and there are no Native Indians on the warpath.
I am not suggesting that Americans should only be allowed muzzle loading firearms and use the weaponry of 1791. Although for sure this would cut down the slaughter of innocents. It cannot be right that gun owners have more right to life than the innocents.
It also cannot be right that private people should be able to own multi-shot automatic weapons such as assault rifles and other such weapons. They do not need mortars and rocket launchers either.
The NRA has become so powerful a voice in the gun lobby, paying many dirty senators to back and support the NRA. Perhaps it is time to consider that unless the association is willing to reform itself and to help the nation reform the laws regarding firearms, they should be compulsorily abolished and regarded as a terrorist organization.
March 21, 2005: Red Lake shootings, Red Lake, Minnesota. Ten killed including the gunman, wounded 5. [Type: Glock pistol and a shotgun]
April 16, 2007: Virginia Tech shooting, Blacksburg, Virginia. Thirty-three dead including the gunman, 23 Wounded. [Type: a 9-millimeter handgun, a 22-caliber handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition]
March 10, 2009: Geneva County massacre, Geneva and Samson, Alabama. Eleven killed including the gunman, 6 wounded. [Type: A Soviet-made SKS and a Bushmaster semi automatic assault rifle, and a 38mm hand gun]
April 3, 2009: Binghamton shootings, Binghamton, New York. Fourteen killed including the gunman, 4 wounded. [Type: 9mm and .45-caliber handguns– as well as a hunting knife]
November 5, 2009: Fort Hood shooting, Fort Hood, Texas. Thirteen killed including the gunman, 30+ wounded. [Type: FN Five-seven semi-automatic pistol]
July 20,2012: Aurora shooting, Aurora, Colorado. Twelve people killed, 70 people wounded. [Type: AR-15 Colt Tactical Carbine assault rifle with armor pierced shells]
December 14, 2012: Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-eight killed including the gunman and the attacker’s mother at her home. Twenty of the dead were children aged 6–7 years old. [Type: .223 caliber “Bushmaster” semi-automatic rifle and two pistols, a Sig Sauer and a Glock]
September 16, 2013: Washington shooting, Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C. Thirteen killed including the gunman, 8 wounded. [Type: a shot gun and a 9mm handgun, also another 9mm taken from a security guard who was shot in the head]
June 17, 2015: Charleston Church shooting, Charleston, South Carolina. Nine killed, 1 wounded. [Type: Glock 41 {13 shot} .45-caliber handgun, reloaded 5 times]
2015, October 1, Umpqua Community College shooting, Roseburg, Oregon. Ten killed including the gunman, 8 wounded. [Type: Glock 19 and Taurus PT24/7]
Following the shooting, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents launched a campus-wide search for explosives. Six firearms were recovered from the crime scene: five handguns and one long gun. None were owned by his mother. The long gun, a 5.56x45mm Del-Ton DTI-15 semi-automatic rifle, was not used during the incident. The perp also had a flak jacket and “enough ammunition for a prolonged gunfight”. Police said they found eight other firearms at his apartment, and that all of the weapons were purchased legally by him or members of his family.
December 2, 2015: San Bernardino attack, San Bernardino, California. Fourteen killed, 22 seriously injured. Killed and wounded by firearms, attackers also had pipe bombs by never used them. [Type: Two .223-caliber semi-automatic assault rifles which had been modified to defeat California’s magazine release requirements, and two 9 mm caliber semi-automatic pistols]
June 12, 2016: Orlando Nightclub shooting, Orlando, Florida. Fifty killed including the gunman, 53 wounded. [Type: a SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol]
October 1, 2017: Las Vegas shooting, Las Vegas, Nevada. Fifty-nine killed including the gunman, 851 wounded, 422 from gunfire, 429 by stampede.
[Type: An arsenal of weapons, associated equipment and ammunition that included fourteen AR-15 rifles (all of which were equipped with bump stocks and twelve of which had 100-round magazines), eight AR-10 rifles, a bolt-action rifle, and a revolver]
November 5, 2017: Sutherland Springs Church shooting, Sutherland Springs, Texas. Twenty-six killed including the gunman, 20 wounded and an unborn child not counted in the 26 dead was also lost. [Type: Ruger AR15-type semi-automatic rifle and two handguns]
2018, February 14, Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Parkland, Florida. Seventeen killed; 17 wounded. [Type: AR-15-assault rifle]
May 18, 2018: Santa Fe High School shooting, Santa Fe, Texas. Ten killed, 14 wounded, including the suspect. [Type: a shotgun and a .38 revolver]
October 27, 2018: Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Eleven killed, 7 wounded, including the suspect. [Type: AR-15-style assault rifle and three handguns]
January 23, 2019: 1901 US 27 S, Sebring, Florida. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: 9mm hand gun]
January 26, 2019: 42350 Church Point Rd. Gonzales, Louisiana. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: Unknown]
February 11,2019: 3628 FM 3126, Livingston, Texas. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: Unkown]
February 15, 2019: 641 Archer Ave, Aurora, Illinois. 6 killed, 6 injured. [Type: 40 Smith & Wesson semi automatic hand gun]
February 16, 2019: 1214 Foxhill Dr, Clinton, Mississippi, Mississippi. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: Unkown]
May 31,2019: 2405 Courthouse, Drive Virginia, Beach Virginia. 13 killed, 0 injured.[Type: 45 Auto hand gun]
June 8, 2019: 5151 Medicine Valley Rd., White Swan, Washington. 5 killed, 2 injured.[Type: 22 LR semi automatic rifle]
June 21, 2019: 519 West Taylor St. Santa Maria, California. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: 9mm handgun]
June 23, 2019: 568 Habbitts Court, San Jose, California. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: 9mm handgun]
July 6, 2019: 1921 Chambers Rd. Saint Louis, Missouri. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: unknown]
August 3, 2019: 7101 Gateway Blvd. El Paso, Texas. 22 killed, 24 injured. [Assault weapon 7.62 AK-47]
August 4, 2019: 419 E 5th St. Dayton. Ohio. 10 killed, 17 injured. [Assault weapon AR-15]
August 31, 2019: 8250 TX-191, Odessa, Texas. 23 killed, 8 injured. [Assault weapon 223 Rem AR-15]
September 2, 2019: 25019 Ridge Road. Elkmont, Alabama. 5 killed, 0 injured. [Type: 9mm hand gun]
These are a few of the people who have been firearm slaughtered, because of the numbers I have not listed and recorded firearm slaughter deaths under five. But there are thousands. In fact since 1968, more than 1.5 million Americans have died in gun-related incidents, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Forget the crap sayings like its people that make the killing, not the guns. The people should never have automatic and semi-automatic firearms, assault rifles, and machine pistols. Because if you look; the larger the number slaughtered at one time, it’s inevitably those kinds of weapons which are used. Forget the crap about its mentally sick people, because anyone who wants or craves these types of weapons are all mentally sick. There is a need to control these weapons, and it’s right now.
Former president Barack Obama failed the people by not confronting head-on the out of control firearm situation. Now, president Donald Trump is doing the same, but seeing as he is still in power, he still has the opportunity to come good.
American people have been dying at a wholesale rate, and still, are. The slaughter has been long and relentless. The leadership thinks more about doing lip service to the NRA and worrying about loss of support than they do the people.
I am not an American citizen, but I am looking in and looking on, and it’s appalling. The cowardice of American leadership is appalling.
Just a few other appropriate words; spinelessness, gutless, wimp, failed leadership.
Jolly Green
