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.That's the text of the actual 2nd Amendment as ratified by the states and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson. I think it needs to be changed, updated, manipulated, brought up to speed with the modern world.
First of all, it's ludicrous to claim that gun ownership has anything to do with the security of the free state anymore. The US Military does that just fine thank you very much, so perhaps it's time to admit that the whole freaking 2nd Amendment is a dinosaur, completely out of touch with the realities of today.
Second, I'd like to point out that gun/weapon/arms ownership already is regulated and controlled by the state. You cannot legally own a fully automatic weapon. You cannot own a hand grenade or a rocket launcher. You cannot own a fully operational tank complete with shells to fire at the marauding hoards coming to take your freedomz and steal your highly-valuable, collectible, plastic knickknacks. So the issues isn't IF we can restrict and infringe on your right to bear arms, it's "where do we draw the line on which guns/arms you can own?"
Personally, I am not in favor of no gun ownership at all. I don't subscribe to the idea that guns would actually protect anyone if the federal governement actually turned the military loose on its citizens and decided to violate the compact that is the US Constitution and that beloved rider The Bill of Rights (happy birthday, by the way, Bill). So let's not go all misty eyed and silly claiming your assault rifle would actually do shit if a Tank pulled up outside your house and the crew told you to surrender in the next 10 seconds or else. You are free to try and good luck with that, hope I'm not wrong that this is your only crack at this game we call life if you choose to ignore their instructions and come out firing. However, assuming I'm correct, perhaps a few guns would be enough for any person/household.
I can honestly support every person being allowed one hunting rifle and one weapon for self-defense. You could pick whether that second weapon is a handgun or shotgun. If you decide you want a different gun you could take one of the guns in and get authorization to exchange it for a different one. You would have to shop in advance and decide which one you want then register the gun you are exchanging, work out the price with the dealer and make the exchange. For collectors there could be a special license exception that would allow/require yearly or bi-yearly inspections by government regulators to ensure all guns are accounted for. All guns would be tagged with numbers and tracked in a federal database, even the ones owned by regular owners who are limited to the two I mentioned above.
Large ammo clips? GONE!
Assault rifles? GONE!
Commit a crime with a handgun? Add an automatic 10 years to your prison sentence when they bust your sorry ass.
These are some common sense ideas/reforms I came up with off the top of my head. Feel free to add your own in the comments section. I'm sure I haven't thought of everything and I'm sure willing to work with people to make this work better so responsible gun owners can continue to do their thing while limiting access to heavy hardware for people who would choose to use the guns to commit violence (especially mass violence) against their fellow citizens.
In the end perhaps something like this might work better for an amendment allowing gun owernship:
The right of people to be secure in their homes and procure food, the right of the people to own a hunting rifle and handgun or shotgun for home defense shall not be infringed.However, whether you agree with my radical idea or not the simple fact is something needs to be done, because the days of staring at a national gun related tragedy being greeted with "well second amendment - so nothing can be done" simply doesn't cut it anymore. Twenty dead GRADE SCHOOLERS deserve better. So feel free to fire away but if that's the best you can bring to the conversation, feel free to shut the fuck up and go troll some other diary, because I'm not having any of it anymore.
