LETTER: Second Amendment needs clarification
Massacres by mentally-challenged individuals in this country will continue until somebody clarifies exactly what the Second Amendment says.
Two factions with power and support have pushed the idea that the Second Amendment was meant to protect the rights of all citizens to bear arms, when in fact it was meant to allow members of all militias to keep the weapons given to them to form an army. This was done because militias were not successful against Britain’s well-trained armed forces. After victory, all members returned to their respective states to be with the weapons given them. Part of the Second Amendment was to assure that they then would be a “well-armed militia” necessary for the security of the new nation.
The outside factions were initially the National Rifle Association (NRA), which was formed in 1871 and immediately pushed the idea that the Second Amendment was crafted to protect the rights of all citizens to keep and bear arms. The second faction came about 100 years later through two rulings, in 2008 and 2010, by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The NRA agenda is not very complicated. Big business and big money have benefited for over 100 years from the NRA and its position that promotes gun sales to mentally-challenged individuals. As for the Supreme Court, go figure.
Ralph George
Washington