In which I re-post something I wrote on Facebook somewhere.

It’s been a very long time since the American populace could protect itself from any sort of Federal armed forces takeover.

Even if we all had automatic weapons, they would crush us in hours due to military technological advances. We’ve been pumping massive amounts of money into our military for hundreds of years. There’s no way we, as citizens, could ever stop them if they came for us. None. Zero.

Therefore, the right to bear arms for the purpose of protecting ourselves from our own government, or even enemies from without, has long passed. The issue now is plainly that there is no rational reason for civilians to have automatic weapons. None. Such weapons would be ineffective against invading enemies, they would be ineffective against our own government should it choose to move against us, and such weapons are clearly and demonstrably a threat and danger to the public.

I’ve begun to think that only persons belonging to certain exempt classes should be able to keep weapons: farmers, ranchers, active and retired military, active and retired police, persons who can demonstrate a need to own a gun, and persons whose guns are antique heirlooms received via bequest from ancestors. Anybody else should have to apply for permission, and that permission should be contingent upon rigorous and frequently-updated training and the passing of proficiency tests.

So if you can’t shoot accurately, strip, clean, and assemble your weapon/s, as well as pass a written safety test, well then, you can’t have them. Basically the gun version of getting a driver license.

I live in a big city, and I follow the police and first response feeds. There is a shooting here every couple of days, and of course the majority are fatal. These shooters aren’t protecting their homes, they’re out shooting each other in the streets. They’re inner city gang bangers who have zero need for guns (in what we consider the traditional sense of preservation of life and home), let alone assault weapons, and are allowed them only due to an antiquated amendment that desperately needs to be revisited.

I’m pro-second amendment, but it was written so long ago that it doesn’t encompass modern weapons, modern warfare, modern humanity. We’re not a culture that values the necessary self-discipline to practice shooting, cleaning, assembling, locking up our trophy weapons without being forced to. We’ve already had dozens of toddler shootings this year because our current “adult” population is too fucking stupid to lock up their “toys.”

And they do think guns are toys. They weren’t raised on farms, shooting animals for the table. They have no real sense of or respect for what guns are and do. What they know about guns they learned from movies, rap videos, and video games. They buy guns because they think they’re cool.

Yes, I understand that criminals by definition don’t follow laws, and that black markets always rise up to fill any void. Criminals will always have things they’re not supposed to. Which is why cops have SWAT gear.

But it should not be so easy for people to buy an assault weapon and open fire on movie theatres and churches and clubs. And simply reducing the number of weapons lying around would immediately reduce deaths. Countries who have collected their citizens’ guns all show lowered gun-based crime rates afterward, so we do have evidence that lives would be saved, and, in the end, if we’re loving persons, that’s the goal. To save human lives.

The second amendment probably needs a major overhaul. Sadly, the government would probably gridlock if it tried to do such a thing, being as fucked up, infantile, and partisan as it has become.