Monday, December 24, 2012

Gun Control: Finally more than talk


There is still a lot of talk about gun control but at least now President Obama 
and Senator Dianne Feinstein are doing something about it. I have long believed in gun control and remember my undergraduate debate class when I took the position of gun control. The last time I saw any news on the NRA was when Charlton Heston raised a rifle, “From my cold dead hands.” I thought I was watching “Planet of the Apes” again. Now Heston’s statement would be applicable if he was buried with his gun. 
 
I recently taught a lesson on the Constitution and the amendments. The favorite amendments always include the Second Amendment, the Right to Bear Arms. Somehow I do not think the Framers (Madison, Franklin, Hamilton…) of the Constitution meant for innocent lives to be lost. The United States had just ended the Revolutionary War, the war for independence. To fight the American Revolution took ordinary farmers, the Militia or citizen soldiers, to help the Continental Army win Independence. Minute men had to be ready to help fight the war. The Framers did not foresee automatic weapons. No one needs to have automatic weapons. Let’s hope that Obama and Feinstein are successful with their gun control legislation.

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