Right to Bear Arms

The first month and a half of what promises to be an intriguing 2008 has already provided a great deal of debate and drama in the political arena. I believe it has been quite healthy, though some presidential candidates have ideas that may seem a little unnecessary.

I would contend that the most ludicrous of all ideas belongs to that of Mike Huckabee, who has made it clear that he believes the US Constitution should be amended in order to fall in line with the standards of God. I find this ludicrous because, well, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the country founded on the principle that church (and all things church like G-O-D) should remain separate from the actions governing the country? Amendment 1. We even so cleverly call this "separation of church and state." Right. So, ludicrous in my opinion.

Anyway...

I have been thinking about the Constitution lately as it pertains to Amendment 2. On December 15, 1791, the founding fathers of our country ratified Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms, which states "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."

I live in Memphis, as you know. Memphis has a history of crime, often crimes that involve guns. Just this week, a 17-year-old sophomore shot a 19-year-old junior in a high school gym class, for reasons I do not know. A few weeks ago, another high school student was shot in school. The other day, a 14-year-old middle school student brought a gun to school. (Let's ignore for now that fact that the ages of these students are alarming and clearly there is an issue in the Memphis City Schools as it relates to the quality and standards of education.) In April, Virginia Tech experienced a massacre. This week, Northern Illinois experienced a school shooting.

I mean, it seems like every day, I turn on the news (both local and national) and there's another senseless shooting in SCHOOL, not to mention the countless thousands taking place every day outside of schools. It gets me thinking:

What the heck is going on in society?!?!?!

Where are all of these guns coming from?
Why is it so easy to acquire a gun, both legally and illegally?
Why do people care so less for their own life and the lives of others that they find it necessary to kill?

I understand that "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" (thank you, Professor Fleming of Logic class circa 2000) but people are in fact using guns to kill other people quite often.

I find this depressing.

Where is the political discussion surrounding this issue?
What can be done to lessen the number of shootings?
What can be done to save lives?

I understand a great need to feel protected and safe and often people purchase guns for this reason. However, it just seems too frequent that the option to buy and use a gun is the immediate answer and pointless murders keep happening all too often.

I keep finding myself thinking: should we really have the right to bear arms? What if we didn't? Would things be better or worse?

I'm not necessarily in favor of amending the Constitution, however, I think this is a serious issue that needs to be examined from a great deal of experts. We need to try to prevent these senseless murders. We need something.