By Tony Powell

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” — Proposed Virginia Constitution, 1776.

“The Second Amendment is really about state militias being strong enough to resist any attempt by the Federal government to destroy us. Reading the debates and legal wranglings from the time of the Constitution’s drafting makes this very clear.

Last month (March 2018) we talked about ‘The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution’ which says.”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.”

Seems simple enough, but, apparently, there are as many opinions as to its meaning as there are people who have read it. (And, of course plenty who have never read it, but they have an opinion anyway.

There are very few countries which, by law, guaranteed a citizens right own and carry a weapon.

Those include Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Liberia, Mexico and Nicaragua.

I’m not sure that any of those countries would be considered ‘safe’ for the sole reason that people have guns.

And, I’m not sure that the United States of America is proud to be named in the same context of any of them.

If the laws in modern countries refer to arms at all, it might say, that the government regulates their use or for mandatory military service. But still no legal right bear arms.

For example, in the United Kingdom, gun ownership is not legally or constitutionally protected. In fact, most handguns, automatic and semi-automatic weapons are illegal.

And, it is a fact that, since the passing of the Firearms Act back in 1920, the UK has one of the lowest firearm death rates among the worlds developed nations.

Conversely, in Switzerland all able-bodied male citizens, are required to keep fully automatic firearms at home in case of a call-up from the military.

Interestingly, after active duty, they will join a militia which lasts most of their adult life.

Along with soldiers 50 rounds of government-issued ammunition storage at home.

So, the Swiss have one of the highest personal gun ownership rates in the world.

But, a very low overall crime rates.

I guess criminals are reluctant to break into a house where the owner has an AK-47 on the mantelpiece. So it might not be surprising that they have one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

Last year there were at least 77 shootings in primary and secondary schools in the USA.

More than 900 children aged 12 and younger are shot each year.

Every cloud has a silver lining (for someone) – For example, the medical profession, including hospitals earn over $622 million per year. The lawyers rake in million$ regardless of winning or losing. The politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, receive million$ in donations from the NRA and their opponents. The media, television and newspapers earn million$ because murder videos generate more viewers. That probably adds up to ‘billion$’

So the naive kids you see on TV don’t stand a chance with their campaign for for gun control.

One Billion dollar$ for about 30,000 shooting deaths each year works out to be about $30,000 for each man, woman or child who gets killed.

As I See It, you have to decide if that price ‘affordable’?

Always good to hear from you at AsISeeItTP@GMail.com

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