I agree totally with the last two sentences of Nel’s New Day blog posting:
The Second Amendment: “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.”
The meaning of the Second Amendment: you can bear your arms, but you need to be trained, and carrying those arms is to be regulated by the government.
“Well regulated” means that you balance the safety of the community with the right to keep and bear arms.
I believe that the 2nd Amendment provides for an individual right to own and use firearms but that we need to balance that right with the safety of our families. I believe that common-sense laws help create a safe environment for all. This includes laws encouraging the use of trigger locks and laws like the Brady law that require background checks for the purchase of firearms and prohibitions of having a gun in the home when under a protection from abuse order,
This article by Nel gives a good summary of the issue of gun safety regulations and the bills currently being proposed in Congress on both sides of the issue. Do we have an unsafe free for all or do we had a rational set of gun safety rules? I believe in the latter.
Proposed gun laws have been mostly flying under the radar with the wild debacles of the new GOP-controlled Congress, but congressional members on both sides of the issue are proposing gun laws. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), whose career took a radical shift after she was seriously wounded by a shooter four years ago, went Capital Hill to support reintroduction of legislation in the House to strengthen background checks for gun buyers. Co-sponsor Peter King of New York has been joined by three other Republicans.
The federal bill would require background checks on private sales at gun shows, over the Internet, and through classified ads, transactions during which a check is not usually run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It would also strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by providing states with incentives to improve reporting of criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to be included in…
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Civil Rights Advocacy 