Liberal (free) democracy is under attack. I quit the NRA when they used the Second Amendment to justify other regressive politics. Our founders had good reasons to create the second amendment. They had lived under a dictatorship and knew how often other governments had deteriorated. They included a means for the-people to resist oppressive government or even overthrow it if necessary. Thomas Jefferson opined, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” One of the things of concern was that a central government could become too powerful with a president or large states oppressing the smallest. At the time slave owning Virginia was the largest state. Imagine if California or Texas law became the law of the land everywhere.
At that time, America was at a state of war with various Native American tribes and nations. People felt they needed arms to protect their property from the Indians they had taken the land from. That war continued until at least 1890, with occasional incidents as recently as Alcatraz 1971or Wounded Knee 1973. The framers probably did not intend Native Americans in the phrase the-people, or slaves either. Plantation owners wanted arms to keep slaves in check. What did they mean by the-people? The English 1689 Bill of Rights was overly specific, “Protestants may have arms for their defense, suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law.” If ours said Protestants, it would exclude half the current population.
What did they mean by arms? Farm implements can be effective arms against the unarmed. So can a sword. The army of America’s oppressor at the time equipped the soldiers, musketeers with the Brown Bess musket able to hit a door sized target at 30 yards. Every farmer probably had something similar or a shot gun. Many had Pennsylvania, aka Kentucky rifles, lethal at about 200 yards in skilled hands. The army had cannons, and the most malicious ammunition imaginable.
The presence of an armed populace is one of the reasons we have not been invaded since 1812, but how we also had a significant insurrection in 1861, and a few lesser ones before and since including Jan. 6, 2021. That security has become too expensive. The government still answers to the-people, sort of. Unfortunately, they listen more to highly paid lobbyists.
An armed populace is an important safeguard against tyranny, both foreign and domestic, but how armed? Swords, muskets, rifles, AK47s, tanks, howitzers, Mig29s. The range is almost infinite. If Ukrainians were as disarmed as Japan, or the Vatican how long would they have held off Putin’s thugs? The correlation between arms ownership and violence is not as clear as proponents claim. Both sides cherry pick statistics. America has far more shootings than “other developed countries” like Europe, but far less than Latin America, Africa or police states with no records. Vermont has some of the loosest gun laws and low crime, Illinois has some of the strictest and maybe the worst crime, which proves nothing. Hawaii has strict, but reasonable gun laws, four pages. California has a confusing 84 pages.
What is a reasonable and practical thing to do? First enforce the laws we have! Enforce universal background checks. What new laws might actually get passed? Red flag to disarm the irrational and irresponsible. A minimum age. Waiting periods. Limit magazine size. Arm someone on campus, but not a bored cop. The liberals will overreach, propose a wish list and pass nothing.
The media could voluntarily help with, more responsible coverage, fewer inflammatory images and less wording that inspires hate speech. After a couple days move coverage to page 3. Avoid publishing the perpetrators name or image; that inspires copycats. The police could do better too, faster but disciplined response. They should make every effort capture the perpetrators so they can be interrogated, analyzed and comprehended. You can’t interview a corpse. Forget that nonsense about saving the cost of a trial. Several shooters were talked down by a skilled negotiator with access to an amplifier. Those skills should be taught to school principals and managers of public spaces.
Any right can be regulated when it imposes on another’s right to life.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. He writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com