Which “well regulated militia” did any of the mass murderers belong to?
The Second Amendment is IRRELEVANT to justifying their shootings!
People who oppose reducing gun violence claim the Second Amendment prevents any sensible laws from being passed. This is an ABSOLUTELY FALSE justification for failing to reduce gun violence.
The Second Amendment explicitly says its purpose is to protect “a well regulated militia.” Back in the late 1700s the U.S. did NOT have a “standing army.” Our nation’s founders actually opposed having a “standing army” because it would lead to unnecessary wars. The Revolutionary War was fought by ordinary people who mobilized for that specific purpose. After independence, the intention was that — if it ever became necessary to mobilize again — ordinary people would mobilize into “well regulated militias.” They would use their own weapons, which they would keep at home and bring out when they join a “well regulated militia” for a specific emergency. The Second Amendment was created in order to protect people’s right to do that.
This concept evolved into what we now know as the National Guard, which was intended to fulfill this purpose in a “well regulated” way, but now the government would provide the guns.
In the late 1700s the weapons were the ordinary guns that people would use for hunting, etc. Each gun would shoot one bullet. Then it would need several steps to be performed in order to re-load and shoot another bullet. This would require a period of time between each shooting. The guns of the late 1700s were NOT mass-murdering machines such as military-style assault rifles that — when you pull the trigger — shoot ALL bullets in the magazine (typically a 30-bullet magazine). Then you could install a new magazine, pull the trigger, and immediately shoot ALL 30 more bullets.
There is NO legitimate civilian use for such a military mass-shooting machine. There is NO legitimate recreational use (hunting, target practice, etc.). They are ONLY designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible.
This is NOT what our nation’s founders had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment.
THESE MASS MURDERS ARE DANGEROUS INDIVIDUALS, NOT MEMBERS OF A “WELL REGULATED MILITIA.”
Anyone who claims that the Second Amendment supports the rights of these mass murderers — or supports people’s right to own assault rifles — is either LYING or is EXTREMELY IGNORANT of what the Second Amendment is really all about. They also SUPPORT RECKLESS VIOLENCE rather than the Constitution.
Such politicians are also CORRUPT because they are funded by the gun manufacturers’ lobby. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has not been an organization of sportsmen (hunters, target practice shooters, etc.) for many years. It is funded almost entirely by gun manufacturers. The NRA donates almost exclusively to Republican politicians.
ALSO, it’s important to understand that vigilante militias are NOT authorized by the Constitution, and Congress should outlaw them. See this: