Second Amendment

 

America

Always the population growing,
And the money owing,
And the babies crying,
And the bullets flying.

Are bullets, not guns, the problem?

The Second Amendment does not give you the right to fire guns.  The Second amendment reads:

“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 amendment does not mention Guns.  The second amendment does say that the purpose of bearing arms is to have a well regulated Militia.  Well regulated Militias go by the names of the various state National Guards, and the US Armed Forces.  The last I heard, the National Guards and the Armed Forces could decide that certain individuals can not be in their militias.

It is only based on the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s far-fetched reading that an unstated right to self defense exists.  (Thank God he was an “originalist” and not one of those activist judges who invent rights, NOT!).  He invented this right, apart from the militia clause, in his decision in 2008’s District of Columbia v. Heller. That right did not exist before then. I guess that means to protect myself from China, I can own a nuclear missile.  Oh, I can’t. Ok how about owning a Blackhawk helicopter to protect me against the Deep State?😉

I would propose that it is not guns that kill, it is bullets/ammunition fired by guns. ( bet you thought I was going to pull that tired chestnut that it is people firing guns, right).  So do not infringe on the right to bear arms (guns)  However, it appears that the State has an interest in regulating its militia.  Unless the State says you can have ammunition for that gun, no ammunition.  Then unless you use that gun as a blunt object, you can not injure anyone.

Therefore, it would seem to be constitutional to prohibit the interstate transport of ammunition except by licensed dealers under controlled situations.  It would seem to be constitutional for any state within the United States to decide to whom it should give ammunition, in what amounts, and under what circumstances.  It would seem that possession of ammunition without a license could be prohibited

I would refer to this as the “Barney Fife Rule”. On The Andy Griffin Show, Sheriff Andy Taylor was faced with the dilemma that his Deputy, Barney Fife, might hurt himself and/or others if he fired a gun.  Sheriff Taylor's solution was to let him carry a gun, but Sheriff Taylor controlled the bullets that Deputy Fife could put in that gun.  What is good enough for Sheriff Taylor is good enough for me!