At the time the U.S. Constitution was written, “guns” meant muskets, and militias were what made armies.
Muskets were inaccurate, even at close range. The states saw active militias as the only protection the central government would have against insurrection. This had just been proven, in Shays' Rebellion, an armed revolt against the government in Massachusetts. The Amendment wasn't written to enable such rebellions, but to put them down. As the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 would be put down, by militias under President Washington.
That's the real Second Amendment. It's not this “everyone gets as many guns as they want” nonsense the so-called National Rifle Association spouts. No matter how many judges or politicians may agree with them, that is just not the historical fact. It's a fiction, a lie, and those who write it are liars.
I was saddened by the reaction. And I'm angry about the reaction. I'm angry over the cowardice of my fellow Americans, its citizens as well as its leaders.
The idea that victims should have “fired back” is made stupid by the fact that the shooter was basically armored. Shooting back would not have taken him down, and would have just exposed those shooting back to direct fire. So a big STFU on that.
The idea that a 23 year old was able to legally buy two assault weapons, in local stores, with no questions asked by anyone and no waiting period, with authorities not being notified, is frankly disgusting. Any contact with this kid, in the wake of those purchases, could have prevented what happened.
This sort of thing is going to happen again, and again, and again, until Americans have the courage to recognize the NRA for what it is, Murder Incorporated. These people license murder, they encourage murder, they make murder bang-bang easy. They have a target on my back, they have a target on your back. And on your childrens' backs. They use our fear of one another to hold the country in an icy political grip.
The rate of homicides in Chicago is worse than that of Kabul, Afghanistan. If Chicagoans didn't have guns to kill with, some might still kill. But they would have to do it up close, and personal. That makes it harder.
Our highest rates of gun violence are in those states that practice the ideology of the “Second Amendment” most avidly. Despite Chicago's record, the rate of firearms assaults per 100,000 people in Illinois is relatively low. It's highest in South Carolina, and Tennessee, over 100 victims per year. Britain, which has strict gun laws, has 600 murders a year, from all causes. Their population is one-fifth that of the United States, which had 8,775 by firearms alone in 2010.
Are Americans different from other people? No, we're not. We're just in the iron grip of a bunch of murderers, the NRA and every politician who remains intimidated by them. Along with every American with an NRA sticker on their car. You might as well be advertising allegiance to the Mexican drug cartels.
I'm looking at you, sir or madam. You killed those people in Aurora. You're killing more Americans every day. That blood will not wash off your hands. And when the roll is called on Judgement Day, that will not be forgotten.
If you are angry at me for what I have just written, fuck you. If you want to kill me for what I've just written, that's your problem, and you need to deal with it. That murderous rage you're feeling is just an emotion. That gun in your hand is a weapon.
Control it.
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