The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Do you think our forefathers had current guns in mind when writing the 2nd Amendment?

Alx · February 1, 2013, 07:59 PM

Guns ( muskets and muzzle-loading rifles ) of the late 1700's took about 30 seconds for a trained soldier to load, EACH BULLET. That is the way guns had been for the previous 200 years. There is no way the framers of the Constitution would predict that someday inexpensive guns could fire 15, 30, or 50 etc. bullets in a few seconds, allowing the disturbed or insane to wipe out multiple victims in a short spree.

The fallacy of wanting guns that are equivalent to the military's, to resist the tyranny of the government, is also ridiculous. 'Got tank ? SAM ? SCUD ? ... maybe a 105 Howitzer ? Of course not.

Not that it should be a secret, but the Constitutional writers put a method of CHANGING the Constitution right IN the Constitution itself. It has its own built-in Constitutional right to CHANGE. Times have changed. There are now 27 amendments to the original Constitution.

Consider the Second Amendment itself. It's an AMENDMENT !!! Eureka, it was a CHANGE from the original Constitution. 2/3 of the Congress' vote, or various other arrangements provided by the Constitution, can make an Amendment. You have no God-given Constitutional rights writ in stone, just a flexible document outlining where your rights end and someone else's begin, subject to CHANGE as the conditions warrant, according to YOUR representatives, in your Congress. Anger and stupidity ( yours, ours, and theirs ) won't push or prevent the change, but enough votes will.

February 1, 2013, 07:59 PM	#284
Alx Member Join Date: May 31, 2006 Posts: 56	Guns ( muskets and muzzle-loading rifles ) of the late 1700's took about 30 seconds for a trained soldier to load, EACH BULLET. That is the way guns had been for the previous 200 years. There is no way the framers of the Constitution would predict that someday inexpensive guns could fire 15, 30, or 50 etc. bullets in a few seconds, allowing the disturbed or insane to wipe out multiple victims in a short spree. The fallacy of wanting guns that are equivalent to the military's, to resist the tyranny of the government, is also ridiculous. 'Got tank ? SAM ? SCUD ? ... maybe a 105 Howitzer ? Of course not. Not that it should be a secret, but the Constitutional writers put a method of CHANGING the Constitution right IN the Constitution itself. It has its own built-in Constitutional right to CHANGE. Times have changed. There are now 27 amendments to the original Constitution. Consider the Second Amendment itself. It's an AMENDMENT !!! Eureka, it was a CHANGE from the original Constitution. 2/3 of the Congress' vote, or various other arrangements provided by the Constitution, can make an Amendment. You have no God-given Constitutional rights writ in stone, just a flexible document outlining where your rights end and someone else's begin, subject to CHANGE as the conditions warrant, according to YOUR representatives, in your Congress. Anger and stupidity ( yours, ours, and theirs ) won't push or prevent the change, but enough votes will. Last edited by Alx; February 1, 2013 at 08:10 PM.