The National Rifle Association (NRA) should be proud.
Thanks to their heavy lobbying and sponsoring of politicians a 24-year-old named James Eagan Holmes was able to buy the weapons and ammunition legally, which he used for the massacre in Aurora, Colorado, this week killing 12 and wounding some 60 more.
The NRA’s most sacred constitutional right, the 2nd amendment – “the Right to Keep and Bear Arms” is, according to the Republican presidential-hopeful’s campaign, “essential to the functioning of our free society”
Holmes, according to the reports, had only one law infraction – a speeding ticket. Otherwise he appeared to be a model citizen. All the laws on the book (whether enforced or not) made it possible for him to buy e.g. an assault rifle.
Isn’t it time to repeal the 2nd amendment? Amendments have been repealed before, like the prohibition amendment #18 with the 21st amendment.
It certainly is an anachronism. It has been some time since we have needed to raise a militia. Gun violence is far to common (it is safer to be in Afghanistan than in Chicago)
As Howard Steven Friedman, a statistician and health economist for the United Nations, wrote for The Huffington Post in April:
“America’s homicide rates, incarceration rates and gun ownership rates are all much higher than other wealthy countries. While the data associated with crime is imperfect, these facts all point to the idea that America is more violent than many other wealthy countries.”
Guns certainly play a role in this.
Another point I want to make is this: how often do you hear about accidental shooting, where for instance a toddler finds a gun, plays with it, and by doing so kills somebody.
Keep in mind what the NRA says. Guns don’t kill. People do.
Of course, a repeal of the 2nd amendment is never going to happen. Guns are big business, and the NRA with their buying power certainly know how to stop any such campaign.
Criminals, terrorists, gang members quietly appreciate this.
Meanwhile, the NRA just shrugs their shoulder.