Gun Violence: How the 2nd Amendment can violate civil

rights

By Brent Waterbury

Smash words edition, copyright 2014

Intro

"More guns in a community lead to more homicide."Harvard Criminologist David Hemenway (sourced from "The Last Gun: how changes in the gun industry are killing Americans")

Holiday travelers returning from a trip at a Ft. Lauderdaleairport were greeted not by Santa waving but by another crazy with a 9 mm:

"Everyone started screaming and running...The shooter made his way down through a baggage claim. He emptied his 9 mm clip into a crowd." Alarms blared and security struggled toopen emergency exits. "Everybody just plowed through them, packed like sardines, shoving and pushing and screaming." Eyewitness Bruce Wagner("5 Die in Florida airport shooting; suspect is held", LA Times Jan. 7,2017) This ebook is new in its approach which makes a legal claimthat victims of gun violence are being denied their "freedom and liberty" as stated in the Constitution. The Founder's who wrote the 2nd Amendment never had problems where citizens were shot to death for no reason at all other than to cause mayhem and publicity. But read or hear

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anything today about gun rights and the 2nd Amendment and you will see the only consensus is wild disagreement on both sides.

For example, the pro-gun right will sit smugly on the 2nd Amendment alone--while the left sees the devastation regardless of people's "rights". Unfortunately in post-Newton America little has still been accomplished regardingthe devastation of our guns and a lot needs to be changed.

For example, the pro-gun people today will smugly sit on the 2nd Amendment. But the left sees the devastation that guns entail and tries to constrict their movement regardless of people's "rights". Unfortunately in post-Newton America today little has still been accomplished since most politicians unfortunately view gun rights as theproverbial 3rd rail--do not touch.

As mentioned, this ebook is new in its approach in that it makes a legal and somewhat scholarly claim that victims of gun violence are being denied their "freedom and liberty" as stated in the Constitution. Importantly, this is not just another emotional argument for the dissolution of gunsbut rather many arguments all based on constitutional laws.This book also explores how the "more guns, less crime" philosophy proposed by the NRA andother pro-gun groups hasn't worked to the average citizens advantage. It delves into the Colonist history of how the 2nd Amendment evolved and the later 14th Amendment. Finally, I touch on the criminal psychology of free-floating guns in our society and dive into landmark court cases which over time have both negated and affirmed our civil rights.

Obviously most (99%?) of gun owners are not lawless and obey gun laws. But we see that guns are bi-polar--they can be fun yet can be very evil. In the wrong irresponsible hands murder the innocent and undeserving including our Presidents, civil rights leaders, the 1000's of random murders, spouses and teens around the country like Trayvon Martin. There are also 1000's of suicides with a gun each year. Without being hysterical, I believe that gun violencetears away at both the fabric of civilized society and pulls it apart. And until the gun violence stops America will continue to be criticized around the world as a scorned, rather juvenile nation, unable and unwilling to come to grips with its own problems:

"With respect to handguns it's not easy to understand why the 2nd Amendment, or the notion of liberty, should be viewed as creating a right to own a weapon that contributesto the shocking number of murders in our society." FormerJustice Powell

(remarks to Criminal Justice Society, ABA 10, Oct. 7, 1988)

Has the 2nd Amendment broken our civil rights?

All Courts, lower/upper, both state and federal, have interpreted that Americans have the right to own guns depending on type. But unlike the left's argument I don't dispute or argue against that. But if you're one of the 71,000 people victimized or murdered by guns every year I maintains that the 2nd Amendment has broken your civil rights. How could this happen? Let's continue...

1st/4th /5th/ 8th and 14th Amendments combined

First off, laws in America cannot contradict one another. Even our civil laws cannot contradict one another. Thus laws should be able to be combined without contradictions. Here's an example:

"To insure domestic tranquility, Congress shall make no law...which deprives the People of life, liberty and privacy without due process (courtroom trial). Trespassing by the police or torture by the state is not allowed beforeor after a trial."

Right under our noses our government, both federal and state, cannot design laws which takes away our "life and liberty" without a prior court trial. If they do then the laws are in conflict with one another which laws cannot do.

A Few Gun Facts:

Gun ownership globally: US ranks #1 ahead of Yemen:

"From an international perspective the US clearly has a problem. Despite having less than 5% of the world's population it has almost 50% of the world's civilian-owned guns."("Control: exposing the truth about Guns", Glenn Beck, 2013)

During the last 11 years of war in Afghanistan the death toll was just over 2,000 but in America during that time more than 175,000 people were murdered. This means that America, with its easy access to guns, has had more

violence than a country in the midst of a civil war. One inthree (33%) American's personally owns a gun while in 2012,the Freedom Group sold 2 billion rounds of ammo! Thanks to ourstory-driven media America has morphed into a rather paranoid nation:(theguardian.com/datablog, September 17, 2013)

"In 2010, 338,000 non-fatal crimes were committed with guns.("Doctor's Target Gun Violence as a Social Disease", USA Today, Aug. 12, '12)

In the 4 years between 2009 and 2013 more than 196,000 people died of gunshot wounds, according to CDC stats. In 2011, over 11,000 people were shot to death by a gun. Thankfully this is down about 40% over the past thirty years with people moving out of the cities and into suburbs. But this still means that if all the victims were laid end to end on a highway every year this line would stretch over 10 miles long. No less worse is that roughly 60,000 are injured by guns, many seriously including paralysis and brain damage. Now if we go back just a decadethis 'human highway' would be over 700 miles long! This should be unthinkable in a civilized society--if we are in fact civilized like we think we are:

("Crime & Punishment in America", Currie, 1998/2013), ( Mother Jones, Feb. 27, '13/factcheck.org), (Private Guns,Public Health 4, Hemenway)

"American's under 40 are more likely to die from gunfire than disease."

("Reducing gun violence in America: Informing Policy with evidence", "Firearms and Violent Death in U.S.", M. Miller,Webster/Vernick, ed., 2013)

America is in red per 1 million

(UNODC data, compiled by the Guardian.com, July 22, 2012/guns-homicides-ownership-world list)

Since Columbine there have been 130 school shootings and over 200 mass shootings (over 4 victims) have occurred since 2006. In 2015 alone mass shootings at homes, parties or on the street have either killed or injured 1100 victims:(www.shootingtracker.com/2015/raw data/excel)

"Mass shooting are blended together into mass murder and what is missing is a moral response." USC prof Ron Astor

("Crime & Punishment in America", Currie, 1998/2013), ( Mother Jones, Feb. 27, '13/factcheck.org), (Private Guns,Public Health 4, Hemenway), ("Violence then resignation", LA Times, Dec. 3, 2015)

In 2011, there were also 19,000 suicides by gun and of those about 4000 were teens. If we read the Declaration of Independence this is not the true "freedom" the Founding Fathers envisioned nor the original history or intent of the 2nd Amendment. Naturally all these arguments will be explored...

(www.shootingtracker.com/2015/raw data/excel), ( USA Today,Jan. 9, '13), (www.cdc.gov/2011)

Criminals pop up overnight like mushrooms

"We have met the enemy and he is us..." Pogo, comic strip

Many of the stats above sound surreal and almost like distortion and lies but they're not. You or I do not hear most of this on CNN or the local news because about half ofmurders and violent acts with a gun are not broadcast or listed in newspapers. Apparently newscasters feel that murders and gun violence are just day in/day out retreaded stories so they just highlight the weird ones:("USA TODAY research reveals flaws in mass-killing data", USA Today, Dec. 3, '13)

"To the left, the 2nd Amendment is an unfortunate and vestigial remnant of a lost world. Antiquated and barbaric in its disregard for the value of human life...Guns divide the American people."

("Uncertain Justice", pg. 156)

But to the Right, 'knee-jerk' Republicans, the NRA, and strict Constitutionalist's like Glenn Beck don't buy this. To take away their guns is to take away their "freedom"--the freedom of the 2nd Amendment. And if that's taken away what's other freedom might be next? This is what the early Father's were afraid of also...

Why is the 2nd Amendment so important?

"To the Framers, our questions [about the Constitution] would make little sense. To us today, their answer makes little sense."("The 2nd Amendment: bio", Waldman)

Statements like the above mean our the Bill of Rights is upside-down and are mostly antiquated. Yet despite its gross failures and short-comings this is what the federal government still uses as both its laws and ideals:

"The 1st and 2nd Amendment rights are not absolute." Duke Law Journal (#43, 1994, Van Alstyne)

On the other side, one could easily make an argument that autos killed about 34,000 in 2012, so why don't we ban carsalso? Well for one car's are more practical and necessary and because most of those deaths and injuries weren't intentional. But guns are an option not a necessity. I don't 'hop on my gun and go to work'. But even with these fatalities our government still looks for ways to lower

them through intervention and regulation. This is all I'm asking our government to do is to look for ways to reduce the injuries and fatalities.

Preamble to the Constitution

The Preamble isn't a law of itself but written as an ideal.It is designed to secure the rights later proclaimed in theDeclaration. Here, our government cannot make laws that conflict with insuring domestic tranquility:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establishJustice,insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordainand establish this Constitution for the United States.

see also, "Heritage Guide to the Constitution", '14, pg. 494+

2nd Amendment (1791)

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of thepeople to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

This is all the 2nd Amendment says. To get a clearer picture I later dive into its origins and evolution over the past 200 years.

4th Amendment (1791)

The right of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizure shallnot be violated.

The right to privacy laws isn't specified in the Bill of Rights per se but the more modern Supreme Court has ruled that it is implicit within other amendments. Quite radically, I believe getting shot is government intrusion.see, "What is the State of Human Rights?", Head, ed., pg. 10

"The 4th Amendment understanding remained rooted in concepts of trespass."("Landmark Supreme Court Cases", Lively, '99, pg. 283)

5th Amendment (1791)

No person [citizen] shall be...deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

More importantly:

"The federal government can't make laws which deprive citizens of these rights." Chief Justice Taft (1921-1930)

8th Amendment (1791)

Cruel and unusual punishment is not allowed by the government.

Since so many are killed and injured, even in theory the 2nd Amendment could be construed as "cruel and unusual" punishment.

14th Amendment (1868)

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge [void] the privileges of citizens of the U.S; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

In other words, our country cannot make laws which deprive us of life and liberty. I believe that if you're a victim of gun violence then at least your 4th/5th/8th/14th Amendment rights have been violated by the legality of the government's 2nd Amendment which it sponsors.

Short history of the 2nd Amendment

"The 2nd Amendment is madly ambiguous. Even today the Supreme Court has stubbornly refused to weigh in its meaning."

(The Blaze, "Small Arms Survey", March 19, '13)

Some American's might be familiar with the 2nd Amendment's history but many, if not most, are not. In the Old World itwould have been unthinkable to be without a weapon. To the Colonists survival was a collective effort. Not only

against the Native Indians but later against the King and the Redcoats.

1066-- English Common Law Tradition and the Original Contract

This was English unwritten law based on common principles in the land. If you've ever read "Robin Hood" then you knowthe story. The King as CEO protected his loyal subjects (peasants) from the Robin Hoode's to which the King was bound to protect in return for their allegiance:

"to protect the community and each individual therein, fromevery degree of injurious violence, by executing those laws which the people themselves have consented to."

These exact same laws were brought over to the Colonies.

1609-1614 English/Powhatan (Mohican) War

"Prejudice locks the mind. Nothing can enter. Nothing can escape".

("How to argue & win every time", Spence, J.D., 1995)

This was the first long war with the Native Indians over land and as a "holy war" fought "under the banner of Jesus Christ." The Reformist Christians started it with guns--andwould have lost with just bows and arrows.

("The Powhatan Uprising of 1622", Fausz, College of William& Mary, PhD disser., 1977)

1621--the 1st Pilgrims

The first Pilgrims that came to America set up shop in and around Boston were initially England's undesirables: debtors, petty criminals and juvenile delinquents. They were gamblers, only they gambled with not only their lives but their families as well since about half didn't live through the 2-3 month journey by ship. However once ashore they still considered themselves Englishmen and not American's:

("The Barbarous Years: the peopling of British North America 1600-1675", Bailyn, 2012)

"In 1620, 100 men, women and children landed in Cape Cod who called themselves 'Saints' or 'First Comers'. They werepeople exiled from England as religious extremists which they were. Their success and hard work helped inspire an entire new wave of immigrants known as the Great Puritan migration." ("The Barbarous Yrs.)

These religious Colonists, sincerely believing that new America was "God's New Kingdom", took a nod from Joshua in the Old Testament where they all viewed Indians as the "heathens". Over the next 250 years eventually forced the Natives off their lands. This was the original reason for guns since settlers weren't exactly shooting at each other at that time:

"Probing the Indian's borders, the English continued to lead fragile, disordered lives in an unfamiliar and dangerous environment."("The Barbarous Years")

1630's guns of the time

"The colonists arrived in the New World keenly aware of their rights as freeborn Englishmen. In 1638, the colony ofMaryland wanted to recognize the Mother country's Magna Carta [Great Charter] as part of their Law." ("The Barbarous Yrs.)

Muzzle loading flintlock's 1600-1700's

"The early settlers were cast in the sturdy English tradition of freedom. The land God gave them, as they believed, was indeed a promised one. Joining the colonies militias was mandatory for every male over 16. Mainly to fight against the occasional Indian attack.("A History of the American People", Johnson, 1997)

1640's New England

Incredibly, when the early settlers arrived they imposed a theocracy of biblical law. Those who didn't obey were socially ostracized:

"They warred with Indians fueled by the Biblical convictionthat God had given the land to them."("A People's History of the Supreme Court: cases and decisions that shaped our Constitution", Irons, 1999/06)

At the time guns were a necessity as settlers became at warwith the Natives over land:

"A 1643 law in the colony of Connecticut required men to carry guns to church in order to 'prevent or withstand such sudden assaults by Natives'. While Massachusetts law (1645)required all inhabitants are to have arms in their houses fit for service with powder and bullets.

("A History of the American People"), ("The War That Made America, a short history of the French and Indian War", Anderson, 2005)

"In 1644, as many as 350 settlers by the James river were massacred by warriors of a chieftain called Opechancanought. This led to large scale counter-attacks bymilitias. Often casualties on both sides were heavy and every white family in New England was involved. Without themilitias the Indians could not have been held off."("War That Made America: a short history of the French and Indian War")

1650's

"There were 3 powers competing in the North East: the French, British and the Iroquois Confederacy [Mohawks, etc.]. Inevitably, Indian raids became ever more deadly as wars intensified, creating a cycle of violence, death and retribution."("1675 King Phillip's War", the Society of Colonial Wars inthe State of Connecticut")

"King Phillips" War 1675-78

"To the settlers the only good Indian was a dead one..."("The War That Made America")

The Mohican leader Metacomet ("King Phillip") allied thousands of Natives against these new Colonists as land losses and new diseases had decimated thousands of Natives.Around Boston more than half towns were attacked by Native

American warriors and over 600 colonial men, women and children were killed.

early woodcut

Twelve colonial towns were totally destroyed with many moredamaged. Later, the Colonists got their revenge, massacred many and sold the survivors into slavery.

("Non-Violence: a history of a dangerous Idea", Kurlansky, 2006), ("England: prehistory to the present", Erickson/Havran, 1968)

1700's

George lll

"England's colonization had the best intellectual underpinnings in the world for this role." ("The Mental Floss History of the U.S.", Sass, 2010)

Under George 3rd (1760-1801) Britain was the strongest colonial power in the world. Its dominions stretched from the Mississippi to the Ganges River in India to the equator. Except for Spanish Louisiana, the Union Jack flew over much of North America. At this time, the British and the French were friends with the Indians and promised them that the Colonials wouldn't trespass west of the Appalachian Mountains--but they did anyway. This led Indiantribesmen in 1763 to band together along with the British under Chief Pontiac for attacks on American forts from Niagara Falls to Detroit--roughly 800 miles. This is something one does not read in elementary school history. ("War That Made America")

1760

To the early Founding Fathers, England was still their 'moral ship'. So one must ask, 'if that was the case why did the Colonist's go to war?' Well the reason was the Colonist's (and later America) had obviously a lower morality than Mother England. For example, the Thirteen colonies endorsed both African slavery and genocide of the Native People's. But England itself in 1780's was toying with the idea of abolishing slavery altogether. This they finalized with their Slavery Abolition Act of 1833:

"The liberty, the unalienable indefeasible rights of men, the honor and dignity of human nature, the universal happiness of individuals [are inherent] in that excellent monument of human art, the common law of England." John Adams(sourced from "Inventing Freedom")

Unfortunately for the Indians was Colonist's swindling landout from under the "heathens" with phony contracts. What this letter said is that there were little organized militias to fend off the Indians. While the colonist's wereleft to fend for themselves:

"During the present Indian War, the Frontiers [colonists] of this province have been repeatedly attacked and ravaged by parties of the Indians, the Savage Heathen who have withthe most savage cruelty murdered men, women and children without distinction. We humbly request more assistance fromthe Ft. Augusta [NY] army garrison, if it can be done." Matthew Smith/James Gibson (Frontier Grievances Letter, Pennsylvania, 1764, sourced from, "Non-Violence: a history of a dangerous Idea")

"Eventually the Colonist's won by sheer brutality". ("Inventing Freedom: how the English-speaking Peoples Made the Modern World", Hannan, 2013)

1765 Stamp Act

"Colonists and their assemblies objected to British Parliament's assumption that it had the right to tax them even slightly--even though it helped pay for Redcoat soldiers to defend them." Journals of Early Provincial Congress

(#30, Lincoln, sourced from "The War That Made America)

1774 Quebec Act

This Act infuriated the Colonists who despised the CatholicChurch:

"One action that was resented by the 13 Colonies was the British recognizing the rights of the Catholic Church in Canada. For many colonists, it was as though the King had sent the serpent into Eden [the colonies] after them. They had come to the New World to get away from Catholics." ("Inventing Freedom")

Massachusetts Government Act

After 150 years of local government the citizens were now deprived of their votes. The "Patriot's" (in actuality rebels) had seized all political authority outside of Boston. They made a detailed list of weapons needed for warincluding round shot, mortars, powder, 5000 rifles and bayonets: ("Non-Violence")

"The revolution [in Massachusetts] had overthrown the localBritish government without a shot being fired." ("Inventing Freedom")

First Continental Congress--1774

"The Founder's like Hobbes and Locke believed that war and violence were part of the natural order."("Non-Violence")

'Settlers got tired of the oath of allegiance to the English Crown.' Thomas Jefferson

(paraphrasing Jefferson in, "Inventing Freedom")

Fifty five members were chosen from the colonies to meet inPhiladelphia for a new charter

and the difficulty of beginning a federal system was apparent. Yet this congress and the following one in 1775 became the American government. In Boston, the British Coercive Acts (1774), mainly taxation, and Intolerable Acts(1774) were considered unconstitutional, shouldbe disobeyed and that the colonies form and arm militias torevolt.

1775 Pennsylvania

The Quaker colony of Pennsylvania was the only one that waspacifist and anti-war. Pennsylvanians got along fine with both the Natives and the British:

"The Quaker's [colony of Pennsylvania] regarded people suchas Adams extremely violent.", ("History of Non-Violence")

"The [passive] Quaker government was denounced as 'enemies of liberty' by the radicals. The new Americans could not conceive of power without force. Yet the Assembly, though still anti-British, viewed going to war as unnecessarily extreme."

("The Annals of America", Vol. 2, Hillard & Brown)

1775 Lexington/Concord, Massachusetts

The Redcoats tried to seize the rebel colonists stash of guns which is the Paul Revere story:

"The Revolutionary War wasn't a benign war as taught in school systems. It was a brutal civil conflict. Civilians would run in terror at the approach of either army."

("Annals of America", Vol. 11)

This was the first battle between the radical Colonists andBritain painted in our history books as 'tyranny vs. freedom' but was really a dumb religious war--Protestant colonists against Catholic Redcoats. No one at that time would have gone to war just over taxes which the Colonists never paid anyway. This was just another war of hate by ourFounding Fathers but now fought with guns:

"The American Revolution was the result of a spasm of religious intolerance."("Inventing Freedom")

Jefferson writes about it:

"In every country and in every age the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot [Pope]." Thomas Jefferson

(sourced from "Inventing Freedom")

Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms--July 6, 1775

The Revolutionary War wasn't "revolutionary" by any stretchof the imagination as Continental Army wasn't fighting for democracy (or the People in charge) since the term hadn't been invented yet. Instead it really was a war of propaganda and mythical ideals. An American doctor argued that Colonist's still had representation in Parliament overseas:

"For all their talk of 'liberty' the Patriot's were as venal as anyone." Dr. Samuel Johnson (1772) (sourced from"Inventing Freedom")

More propaganda:

"Swim or sink, live or die, survive or perish." John Adams

As governor of Virginia, Henry earlier advocated military invasions of Indian country:

"Give me liberty or give me death." Patrick Henry

("Founding Myths: stories that hide our patriotic past", Raphael, '04)

The Colonists were not slaves by any stretch of the imagination--these were Englishmen themselves! The Coloniessubjugated slaves--20% of the population--not each other:

"The myth of all American's jumping into the 'Minute Men' militia's is false. Just one third were in support of war and didn't want to fight for their liberty."("People's History of the United States")

Soon British troops were dispatched to Massachusetts to take the arms from the militias among them Paul Revere. Therebellion soon degenerated into a full-scale war and it became clear that only complete independence from Britain would satisfy the radicals and wide-spread support. This rag-tag army was commanded by the barely-educated George Washington, who had earlier marched under the British flag against the French and Indians:

("The War that made America: short history of the French and Indian War", Anderson, '05)

"The start of the Revolutionary War was basically one-sided: the Americans started it. In London, few were

interested including the King and his ministers. And certainly no one volunteered to fight it. The war brought to the 13 colonies immense miseries, 1000's of deaths, losses and some benefits."("History of the American People")

1776

"The good people of this country are grievously oppressed [by the King/Parliament]". Thomas Paine

The Patriots tried to rally the locals into a religious andsomewhat economic war. Meanwhile the British, under GeneralHowe, mad at the Patriot's arrogance and rebellion, sailed into New York harbor with 100's of war ships. They even offered a truce to General George Washington:

" ...The Kings benevolent intentions to prevent the furtherEffusion of Blood and that we become productive of Peace and lasting Union between Great Britain and America". British General Howe

(Letter to George Washington, from "Revolutionary Summer: the birth of American Independence", Ellis, '13)

The letter was returned unopened. While in New England, Loyalist's to England were tortured for their faith:

"Outright expressions of loyalty to the Crown were severelypunished with tar and feathers in the town square, mobs that tore down and burned your house and public notices of your imminent death.

("American Insurgents, American Patriots", Breen, 2010)

Colony of Virginia's Bill of Rights, June 12, 1776

George Mason, principle writer

"The Bill of Rights was taken from the English Bill of Rights, 1689."(sourced from "Inventing Freedom")

The Bill of Rights was a document drafted to proclaim the inherent rights of men--not Natives or slaves. It wasn't anoriginal idea as the British had their Magna Carta (1215), Habeus Corpus (1679) and their Bill of Rights (1689) based on the ideas of social philosopher John Locke. Other constitutions were later adopted by all the colonies. The most relevant to the 2nd Amendment are listed:

1. All men are by nature equally free, have certain inherent rights; namely the enjoyment of life and liberty, pursuing happiness and safety.

3. That government ought to be for the benefit, protection and security of the people, nation or community.

13. A well-regulated militia, composed of people trained toarms, is a safe defense of a free state; that standing armies [within the colonies] in time of peace should be avoided as dangerous to liberty.

1770-1780

"...where there is a legal right there is also a legal remedy whenever that right is invaded." English jurist Blackstone

From Common Law in England the right to civil protection inthe colonies was now in order. It sought to ensure that individuals were actually able to obtain remedies for the invasion of their rights by others. Later, I will show how this concept works regarding gun violence...

Articles of Confederation, November 1777

Article 11. Nor shall anybody of forces [militias] be kept up by any state, in time of peace, unless congress assembled, deemed necessary to garrison the forts for the defense of each state; but every state shall keep up a wellregulated and disciplined militia [small army].

In other words, in a time of peace there shall be no army. At this time the Colonists were in the middle of the Revolutionary War:

"Samuel Adams, a lawyer, understood that democracy forced the people to shed their pleasures and surrender their personal freedoms like drinking: 'Luxury and Extravagance are in my opinion totally destructive of those Virtues which are necessary for the Preservation of Liberty'".

("The Young Patriots: story of 2 men and the Revolution that created the Constitution", Cerami, 2005)

Revolutionary War

Most of the population was actively treasonous and someone called to duty could get out of it by donating 5 pounds (maybe $300) to the Freedom fighters. Of those that enlisted only a small fraction stayed. Although the War was"revolutionary" in its conception, not stated in history books is that it was also a civil war with black slaves jumping ship and siding with the British and the Indians. Why doesn't Spielberg make a movie out of that??

("Slavery & Freedom in the age of the American Revolution",Berlin/Hoffman, 1983)

The Patriots later had help from the French (a monarchy, 1778-1782) and who was usually at war with Britain. While the British were friends with the Indians and the American Loyalist's. This explains why over one third of the people were Loyalists to England while the other third were neutral. This could mean our July 4th "celebration" over the British is really false and mythical.

("People's History", Rapheal, 1981), ("Gun Regulation: theright to keep arms in early America", Churchill, Law & Historical Review #25, '07)

1780

Quite arrogantly, the Founder's saw themselves as the 'morality police' to the other 99% of colonists:

"Even though peasants, slaves and colonial subjects in taverns and whore houses held no political power, within the Founding Father view they were too free because they had no reason to control themselves. So the Founding Fathers redefined the word 'freedom' as self-control and built a political system called democracy. ("A Renegade History of the U.S., Russell, '10)

Grand Union Flag of the insurgent's

Massachusetts Bill of Rights, 1780

11. Every subject of the commonwealth [colonies] ought to find a certain remedy for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his person. Every individual has a positive right

to protection by society. This protection is afforded by the enactment and execution of laws for the security of life, liberty, and property.Massachusetts Constitution ("Inventing Freedom")

The above was grabbed from British common law as a positiveright (today most of our laws are in the negative). These colonists were interested in preserving unity with each other who they called "Brethren". But they didn't like the new Catholics on the shore and who lived separately from them:

"Some states even disarmed Catholics denying them the rightto carry their own weapons." ("Young Patriots")

Yorktown, Virginia, 1781

"To many their Cause was fraudulent and hypocritical as twovery large American groups were also denied basic rights--women and slaves: 'We have no Voice or Representation'". Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams ("Revolutionary Summer: the birth of American Independence")

The British now out of ammo, trapped and outnumbered 2 to 1and with dozens of French mortars landing on them incessantly, surrendered in October 1781. Ironically on thesame day, British General Clinton had 7,000 ready for battle in New York coming to Cornwallis's aid. His arrival a week sooner might have saved the British army.("The War of the Revolution", Ward, '11)

Six years of fighting, 1300 land/sea battles the Colonies lost 25,000 men. The new Colonies, along with the help of French militias, had won. Two years later Britain signed the Treaty of Paris with the U.S. in September 1783, recognizing the independence of the U.S. from Britain:

"A little rebellion is a good thing..." Thomas Jefferson, writing from Paris, 1780's(sourced from "Don't Know Much About History")

Constitution of the U.S., 1787-1791

"The language of the Constitution must be interpreted by reference to English institutions and common law."

("The 2nd Amendment Primer: citizen's guidebook", Adams, 1996/2013) see also, Chief Justice Taft, Ex parte Grossman,267 US 87, 1925

"What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels no government would be necessary. In framing a government the great difference lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." Madison (Federalist #51)

To the Father's, the Constitution was really an experiment that they hoped would work within a new government. They were looking in their rearview of the British invasion whenthey were writing it and how to possibly counter it throughfederal laws. But while the new federal and states rights

in the Constitution were very strong, the Constitution became quite weak when it came to individual rights:

"The Constitution was designed to be weak so that the federal government would be weak in relation to the greaterrights of the states."("The New Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness", Michelle Alexander, 2012)

About half of the Founders didn't want a federal governmentat all anyway:

"The Constitution does not 'grant rights' but rather recognizes their existence and requires the government to protect them. For example, the 1st Amendment is not a grant of rights to the people to say anything but a restriction on government--preventing it from infringing on rights the people already have." ("Constitutional Chaos: what happens when government breaksits own laws", Judge Napolitano, '04)

Despite what many say about God "founding our nation" the Framer's were not religious men:

"The Constitution was a political creation and negotiated compromises. There were conflicts everywhere: small states,large states, North/South and abolitionist states and it took nearly 600 separate votes to settle them all... But the Framers were intelligent, even brilliant men as they drew on Greek philosophy, the Roman republic, the evolutionof the English democratic tradition from the Magna Carta tothe English Bill of Rights. Above all they embodied the

Triumph of the Enlightenment." ("Don't know much about history")

Article 1--To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute laws of the Union, suppress insurrections.

Later this helped the new federal government to go after the South in the Civil War. The view that government was formed to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens was fully shared by the Framers of the Federal Constitution. The states, on the other hand, were to retaintheir role as "the immediate and visible guardians of life and property" (Madison):

"Under the Constitution, it was the states not the federal government which were to provide general protection of life, liberty, and property. Instead, the Founders apparently assumed that the new states could be relied uponto protect adequately the rights of their citizens. Duke University Law Journal

As you will find, many of the Southern states could later care less about human rights...

1783 First Gun Control

"In Boston it was illegal to keep a loaded gun. People deemed dangerous were barred from owning weapons."("The 2nd Amendment", pg. 32)

"Predatory crimes like murder, rape and robbery were almostnonexistent... Trial and punishment were rare."("Rise of the Warrior Cop", pg. 27)

After the War, the guerilla forces disbanded by order of the Constitution. The colonies were now left without a standing army even though there was an Indian problem. While in the urban cities gun-control prevailed. In Boston an ordinance was passed against having guns and gunpowder in the same house:

"All firearms of any kind, found in a dwelling-house havingin them any gun-powder shall be liable to be seized." (Acts, March 1, 1783, sourced from "Gunfight: the battle over the right to bear arms in America")

1787 Constitution Written

"Like using bleeding for medical care, wearing wigs and keeping slaves, many practices of the Founding Era is hard to fathom or translate into today."("Second Amendment", tub to the whale)

The 2nd Amendment (1789) was written about 7 years after the Revolutionary War was over and was mostly written by James Madison; who gave it to a committee which was then passed on to the House of Representatives. There it sat for almost two years before it was voted in by three fourths majority by the 13 States.

The overall problem was that all the new states would have no say-so about the 2nd since the rights and laws were now federal. The complainers were the anti-federalists--in a sense our Libertarians like now--who were afraid of the federal government using tyranny to overthrow a state's

wishes. This is exactly what happened in the later Civil War:("Armed America: the story how guns became popular", Cramer, '06)

"The Constitution's 'militia clauses' were designed to giveCongress the power to call up the colonies militia should another country invade. The Fathers didn't want a 'federal militia' to be used against the people should the Executivebranch turn out to be a tyrant. ("Armed America")

Like a George Bush later exploited in his "war on terror" for example...

1789

The colonist's enemies were still the Native Indians:

A well-armed and regulated militia is "the best security ofa free country." Madison("Documented History of the 1st Federal Congress of the U.S., vol. 4)

1791 Bill of Rights

The Fathers were still trying to hammer out the 2nd Amendment which they tried to use as a hypothetical:

"The common view in Congress was that an armed citizenry would prevent tyranny of a federal government out of control." ("Founders 2nd Amendment")

In the territory of Ohio, the Indians repulsed General Harman's army when it invaded western Ohio; killed 100's ofregulars and volunteers in Indiana, sending the rest fleeing in panic. However, Congress and Senate were still debating who would be included within these new "rights" asIndians were now supposedly American citizens: ("History of the American People")

"It is dangerous to put Arms into the hands of the FrontierPeople for their defense, least they should use them against the U.S.! Sen. Will Maclay, Penn. (Diary of Will Maclay on Senate Debates: March 1789- 1791)

Despite there being a new Bill of Rights not every American--slaves/Indians included--should have access and rights to a gun.

1792 Militia Act, Delaware

Every free able-bodies white male citizen must provide himself with arms.

1796

Slaves were still deprived of a right to bear arms, later rescinded in 1868:

"Let no Negroe or mulattoe [half-breed] be capable of keeping or bearing arms." ("A Dissertation on Slavery", Tucker, 1796)

1803 Marbury v. Madison

"The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to afford that protection." Supreme Court Justice Marshal (Duke University Law Journal, from "The 1st Duty of Government")

1810's

In most tribes, despite being new "citizens", the Indians continued to be a problem for settlers:

"Burn their dwellings--destroy their stock--slay their wives and children that their very breed may perish! War now! War always!" Shawnee Chief Tecumseh

(Mississippi as Province Territory & State, Clairborne, 1880)

War of 1812-1815

Again America went to war against the British. Apparently the Colony's were mad at Britain for supporting the

Indian's who were fighting white colonists in the frontier.Of course, the colonist's were committing extermination andgenocide against the Natives! Perfectly legal! So much for hypocrisy:

"The militias were forced to fight the British for 3 years and their performance was so poor that the British were able to burn Washington D.C. to the ground. The New Englandstates, opposed to the conflict, refused to fight this war effort. Americans came to realize that militias were good for emergencies but a drawn out war required a permanent army."("Citizen Soldiers in the War of 1812", Skeen, 1999)

1820's

The courts believed that the federal right to keep and bear arms meant militias only. Both guns and knives were still outlawed. This view held sway until the 1960's.("Second Amendment", Arkansas toothpicks)

1840's 2nd Amendment

Because of the way the 2nd Amendment was being interpreted gun owners brought legal challenges asserting the Court's view infringed on the right to bear arms. But surprisingly even the racist Southern courts disagreed! An Alabama courtexplained:

"The states constitution doesn't allow to bear arms on all occasions and in all places." (State v. Reid, 1 Alabama 612)

Memphis riot of 1866

The Memphis riot began with an altercation between white police and recently discharged black soldiers which led to three days of mob violence by whites. About 50 blacks were killed and over 100 homes, churches, and schoolhouses belonging to blacks were destroyed.

A later committee reported that Negro's have had no protection from the law whatsoever. Later, Washington D.C. sent in federal troops. The history of slavery and suppression in the South before the War, together with the torrent of violence against blacks and Unionists after the War, convinced Republican members of the 39th Congress thatthe states could not be relied upon to protect the rights ofall persons. ("Reconstruction, 1863-1877", Foner, 1988), see also the historical movie, "Free State of Jones"

An eyewitness wrote:

"In many districts robbing and plundering was going on withperfect impunity; the roads were infested by bands of highwaymen; numerous assaults occurred. The police are either unwilling or unable to enforce the laws; and that the better elements of society are kept down by lawless characters under a system of terrorism. Carl Schurz, eyewitness (from, "The 1st Duty of Government"), see also "Slavery byAnother Name", Blackmon, '08

More broadly, proponents argued that the national government had an inherent authority to protect its citizens no different than the King of England:

"Allegiance and protection are reciprocal rights," asserted Senator Trumbull. "We have a Government which is all-powerful to command the obedience of the citizen but has no power to afford him protection? Is it possible that our Constitution is so defective that we have no power under it to protect our citizens within our own jurisdiction?" Senator Trumbull

(Congressional Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess. (1866), sourced from "The 1st Duty of Government")

Back in the 1860's, the Court of Appeals of New York explained that the Riot Act statute was intended to compensate going back to British common law:

"...those who may be so unfortunate as without their own fault to be injured in their property by acts of lawless violence of a particular kind which it is the general duty of the government to prevent." (from "The 1st Duty of Government")

And a constitutional lawyer now agrees:

"The state riot act strongly confirms that in legal thoughtof the time the government's duty of protection was understood to include the prevention as well as the punishment of violence."("The 1st Duty of Government")

Unfortunately today, over a century later, we've witnessed that there is little protection from our 2nd Amendment...

1868 14th Amendment

No state shall make or enforce any law which voids the privileges of citizens of the United States.

The 14th can be considered our 'civil rights' amendment. This was in 5 sections but mainly it was about the civil rights of "Negro's" who were supposedly set free from slavery in 1865. It was also one of the "Reconstruction" amendments to the post-Civil war where an incredible 600,000 U.S. soldiers died. The 14th also didn't borrow from the earlier Bill of Rights (Virginia, 1776) as blacks were so low on the totem pole that they weren't even considered in the national equation:

"The 14th was passed to extend federal protection to citizens of every state. To restrain the power of the states." Duke Law Journal(#43, 1994, Van Alstyne)

"The 14th created a substantive-due-process 'right to privacy'...Personal rights are included in this guarantee of personal privacy."("Constitution", intro, pg. 272), ("Citizen's Constitution")

Today, and deathly afraid of contradictions, our federal courts don't mix the 14th with the 2nd:

"Members of the 39th Congress (1866) declared that the 14thfocused on 'civil rights' not 'political rights' like voting or militia service... But how could they fit that vision together with the 2nd Amendment? So far, the SupremeCourt has avoided these puzzles by refusing to review casesinvolving the 2nd Amendment [together with the 14th]."("The Bill of Rights Primer")

All the states were brought under the Bill of Rights but just by the 14th:("Citizen's Constitution")

"There is a big difference between the Founders Bill of Rights (1791) and the later Reconstructionist 14th Amendment. The texts are separated by 100 years of history and aimed at solving different problems. The original Bill of Rights knit together citizens rights with states rights but the 14th unraveled this concept giving citizens [new] rights against states. This reflected a vision more individualistic than collective [than the old Bill of Rights]. More private than public."

("The Bill of Rights Primer", Amar/Adams, 2013), see also, "Case Against the Supreme Court", Chemerinsky

A central purpose of the 14th Amendment was to establish the right to protection as a part of the federal Constitution and to require the states to protect the fundamental rights of all persons, Negro as well as white.

In establishing a federal right to protection, the 14th Amendment was not creating a new right but rather incorporating into the Constitution the concept of

protection as understood in the classical tradition in English Common Law. The debates in the 39th Congress over the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 confirmed the constitutional right to protection:("The 1st Duty of Government")

"The 14th Amendment required a state to protect its citizens from private violence. It required not only that the law apply equally to all but also that the law protect individuals against violation of their rights by others." Congressional Globe

(39th Cong., 1st Sess., 1866, sourced from "The 1st Duty of Government")

However, the nine states in the South didn't heed the 14th Amendment for another 170 years by maintaining its "Jim Crow" caricature laws... Later, the 14th was the amendmentlater used in Roe v. Wade (1973) and which I'll try to use later in defending a victim's personal rights against the 2nd Amendment.

The "Wild West" 1850-1880's

"I never killed a man that didn't need killin..." Wild BillHickok

Today who couldn't echo that statement? Think of the 1000'sand 1000's of weirdo's, sociopaths and psychopaths in America that deserve death:

"During the migration to the West murder rates were 10 times higher than Newark or Philadelphia are now." ("American Homicide", Roth, '09)

The great exodus from East to West brought along a few gunslingers. During the California gold rush as 1000's of miles of territory were un-policed, but most frontier townscrime was exceedingly rare because their guns were taken before they stepped into town! While Americans then didn't even lock their doors at night--a trait unthinkable in fearful America now:

"Frontier towns like Tombstone, Arizona had some of the most restrictive gun control laws in America. In 1881 just5 people were killed and 3 of those were outlaws." ("Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths", Shenkman, 1988

While Dodge City, Kansas (home to Wyatt Earp) had just 15 murders in 10 years! These stats sound fictitious but they can easily be found in the cities public records. And then no one questioned the validity of the 2nd Amendment...("The Cattle Towns", Dykstra, 1968)

1876 Cruikshank v. U.S.

"When the justices speak our world changes..."("Uncertain Justice", prolog)

At that time the 2nd Amendment was federal and didn't applyto the states. The Court didn't opine on the matter.("Second Amendment", Arkansas)

1881

"In Wild West towns where people lived and businesses operated the city ordinances prohibited people from toting their guns around. Arrivals were to turn in their guns to authorities for a token. If they wanted to drink and gamblethe guns were left behind."("Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths")

I believe that the 1880's were more civilized than our 21stcentury; as two years before the shootout at the O.K. Corral, Tombstone adopted a law known as Ordinance #9:

"To provide against the carrying of deadly weapons within city limits". (www.pr.state.az.us/ordinances)

1900

"Coerced by massive violence, every state in the South had laws on the books that violated black's civil rights." ("The New Jim Crow")

My point here being that many states didn't abide by the Constitution and the federal government didn't bother to step up to bat either. This went unheeded until the mid

1960's under LBJ with the civil rights movement and its newfederal laws.

1911 Sullivan Act

New York required handgun owners to get a permit following an attempted assassination on New York City’s mayor. In addition to handguns, the Sullivan Act prohibited the possession or carrying of weapons such as brass knuckles, blackjacks, bludgeons or bombs or carrying a dagger, "dangerous knife" or razor "with intent to use the same unlawfully". Violation of any of the prohibitions was a felony.

("Gunfighter in Gotham: Bat Masterson's NYC Years", DeArment, pg. 90)

Sturges vs. Chicago

In the early 1900's, mobs in Chicago destroyed a property owned by Sturges. So he sued the city claiming the government should have protected him. But in Sturges, the defendant, Chicago, challenged the Illinois riot act under the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court rejected Chicago's claim saying:

"The obligation of the government to protect life, liberty andproperty against the conduct of the indifferent, the careless and the evil-minded may be regarded as lying at the very foundation of the social compact [14th]. The law in question rests upon the duty of the State to protect itscitizens in the enjoyment and possession of their acquisitions".

("The 1st Duty of Government"), ( www.casetext.com)

More importantly, is our state government today protecting its citizens from the rages of its federal 2nd Amendment? So far no... If not then there is a contradiction. Of course, there is another angle in Sturges being that there were a few police around who could protect life and property.

1937 Washington DC

FDR was fed up with the Supreme Court and their personal interpretations of law (see Scalia's Heller for details). In a "fireside chat" on radio from the White House he told hislisteners:

"The Supreme Court has improperly set itself up as a '3rd house of Congress'--a super-legislature--reading into the Constitution words and implications which are not there and were never intended to be. In our courts we want a government of laws and not of men." FDR ("Fireside Chat on Reorganization on the Judiciary", March9, 1937)

1939 U.S. vs. Miller decision

"After Miller, the Court declined to offer guidance on the 2nd Amendment when gun regulation is challenged." ("Uncertain Justice", gun rights: armed and dangerous)

For gun control enthusiasts the Miller decision meant that theonly guns covered under the 2nd Amendment were those with 'reasonable tie' to militia service, and 'those in common use of the time'. That meant machine guns, sawed off shotguns, war cannons or tanks on the street would be considered unconstitutional. For the past 160 years, until very recently, the courts held sway over the vague, non-literal meaning of the 2nd Amendment which earlier was mainly used to protect society from people with handguns.

1942 Chaplinksy vs. New Hampshire

Our 1st Amendment isn't always protected to say anything, anywhere. Likewise our 2nd Amendment is the same. In Chaplinsky the defendant called a cop a derogatory name and was arrested. The case kept appealing the negative decisions in lower courts finally up to the Supreme Court. But the defendant still lost. The Court ruled, again very subjectively, that there are two levels of free speech--a lowerand a higher:

"Freedom of speech/press are among the personal rights and liberties protected by the 14th Amendment from invasion by the state. But 'fighting words' come from a 'lower level' that don't express protected ideas and could be banned. Certain classes of speech include lewd and obscene, the profane and the insulting or 'fighting words'--those by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace."

(315 U.S. 568, pg. 570), ("Scalia: a court of one", Murphy,'14)

Here the Court reflects that words alone can cause injury and are banned constitutionally. But don't guns also cause injury but are not banned constitutionally? This is proof that our courts contradict other cases, shoving them under the mat... Laws are not allowed to contradict one another.

1940-1950's

"[On crime graphs] crime rates hugged the floor."

("The Better Angels of our Nature: why violence has declined", Pinker, '11)

Fighting two wars overseas united America and dropped the crime rates at home down to nil as there were better thingsto do than hold a grudge and murder someone at home. Sociologically, this proves that murder and gun violence are spurious, emotional acts and not inherently human nature as many believe.

1961 Poe vs. Ullman

"There's nothing magical in the reasoning's of judges long dead..."Justice Blackmun(Lucas vs. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S., 1003)

Another landmark decision about privacy which interacts with the 14th Amendment... In Connecticut it was illegal to get birth control pills and one couple ("Poe") claimed their 14th Amendment "rightsto privacy" were invaded. So together with Planned Parenthood the couple deliberately got arrested and later

went to court. The plaintiff's, Poe, lost! Justice Harlan, ina dissent, wrote from a negative point of view:

"The state overstepped its bounds and a unjustifiable invasion of privacy occurred." Justice Harlan (367 US 497, 1961)

In a precedent to Roe v. Wade this was the first Court decisionto use the 14th Amendment's "life and liberty" clause. Liberty meaning both the federal and state governments can't intrude on a person's personal rights. Of course theydo anyway--and more so now than ever where the police can shoot citizens and get away with it.

Later in 1965, Chief Justice Douglas adopted Harlan's reasoning in Griswold vs. Connecticut which reversed Poe and the right to privacy became constitutional law. (#381 US. 479, 1965)

1960's JFK

I bring up Camelot because this was a time when the federalgovernment was integrated and both Republican's and Demo's worked together for the betterment of our government and society.

The Kennedy's in Dallas, 1963

In March 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald, using the alias "A. Hidell" purchased a 6.5 mm Italian Carcano rifle by mail order. He also purchased a revolver by the same method. Warren Commission Report

"Why would anyone want to kill my husband?" Jackie Kennedy

"All across America [200 million] people were united in grief."("Five Days in Nov.", Hill/McCublin, '13)

Oswald was just another psychopath but with a rifle. Personally he held no grudge against Kennedy but was out just to do as much damage as he could:

"Oswald struck me as a man who enjoyed the situation immensely. He enjoyed the publicity."Dallas police detective J.R. Leavelle

"There is little doubt that the assassination set loose thedarker instincts of the American psyche." (Time Nov. 25, '13)

U.S. Crime Rates 1960-2012

Starting in the 1960's, large cities became particularly dangerous especially New York. Jobs were plentiful but judges were lenient to the extreme and it got around that 'crime does pay'! The graph below indicates that violent crime went up 400% in just 20 years:

(Crime & Human Nature, Wilson/Hernstein, '85), ("The BetterAngels of our Nature"), (www.disastercenter.com/crime/UScrime/1960-2013)

Year Population Violent Crimes Murder

1960 179,323,175 288,460 9,1101980 225,000,000 1,344,520 23,0401993 257,908,000 1,926,020 24,5302012 313,914,040 1,214,464 14, 827

1965 Detroit Riots

A federal report said:

"Effective firearms controls are an essential contribution to domestic peace and tranquility."(Stanford Research Institute, "Firearms, Violence and CivilDisorders", U.S. Senate, 90th Congress, 1968)

Meaning criminals and mental cases cannot have access to guns. But the politicians and the government apparently didn't listen to the university research panels...

1965 Griswold v. Connecticut (7-2)

"Few issues of constitutional law are more contested than the court's power to identify rights and liberties that aren't constitutionally numbered...However, the debate overthe judiciary as a source for developing rights not specifically mentioned by the Constitution still persists."("Landmark Supreme Court Cases", pg. 321-23)

Griswold, a precedent to Roe, was whether a married couple associated with Planned Parenthood could get contraceptives. Birth control was illegal in the state at that time. The Court felt that Griswold's right to privacy were being infringed by the state of Connecticut. Griswold won under the privacy guidelines of the 14th Amendment with other hints from the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 9th Amendments:

"Taken together, these guarantees were sufficient to embrace a right of privacy". ("Landmark Supreme Court Cases", 14th Amendment, pg. 322)

Miranda vs. Arizona (1966)

"Most killers are not insane. They enjoy the crimes they commit... Sometimes cops are the priests and hear appallingconfessions. They listen to gruesome descriptions of murders, rapes and child molestations..." ("Arrest-Proof Yourself")

Ernesto Miranda was a convicted criminal but this law told the cops to tell suspects to keep quiet if they're under arrest, under the 4th/5th Amendments. But since criminals are not too smart anyway, and caught red-handed in a crime,cops will often hear a suspect spill their guts without a prompt. But after Miranda their testimonies were now inadmissible in court. Of course the left and civil libertarians hailed the decision but society lost overall:

"For the law to be engaged in equalizing the criminal's ability to escape the law is to abandon the reason for criminal laws in the first place." ("The Vision of the Anointed" ,Thomas Sowell, 1995)

What does this have to do with anything? As you'll see it'scriminals + guns 'gaming the court system' like a card cheat in Vegas and exactly why crime rates along with easy guns later on rose exponentially to haunt us all down the road.

1967 Oakland, Calif.

"Nobody should be carrying a loaded weapon." Ronald Reagan(issued as Calif. governor, May '67)

Somewhat surprising for its time carrying a loaded gun on the street in California was legal as long as it wasn't concealed. So the very racist black group, Black Panther's exploited this laxity to use against the heavy-handed tactics of local cops who they wanted to 'get even with' and invariably had many shootouts:

"With weapons in our hands we [blacks] are no longer their subjects [the cops] but their equals."Black Panther leader Dr. Huey Newton (quoted from "Up against the Wall: violence in the making of the Black Panther Party", Austin, '06)

Later, Newton was shot twice in the face by violent gang member with a handgun and died.

1968

'Is the 2nd Amendment a relic of the American Revolution?'(sourced from "The Citizen's Constitution: a guide", Lipsky, 2011)

Federally, this was the Supreme Courts view until 1968:

"Just after the RFK/MLK assassinations Congress passed the Crime Control Act, the 1st federal gun control law in 30 years. Later, the Gun Control Act (1968) was amended and which targeted the mentally ill, felons and substance abusers. ("Gunfight")

1971 Luby's massacre, Texas

In a restaurant, armed with 2 pistols, the suicidal assailantshot 50 people (killing 23) and exchanged shots with responding police. Later, Hennard fatally shot himself. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in American history until the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. An eyewitness:

George Hennard

"He calmly and methodically strolled through the cafeteria,randomly shooting innocent people as they crouched under tables. Often he would stick the gun at a victim's head or body and fire."

("Bloodbath in Killeen," Oct. 17, 1971, the Chronicle)

1972 Furman v. Georgia (5-4)

While burglarizing a house Furman shot and killed the owner. Furman was black and the state of Georgia wanted himexecuted. Instead the Justices viewed capital punishment as"cruel and unusual" and reasoned that the death penalty is unconstitutional if it's applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner. The state of Georgia lost.

In my argument here, the 2nd Amendment could also be considered "cruel and unusual punishment" because if one isviolated by gun violence in a court of law that can be construed as cruel. But the state isn't telling a victim they must be shot by law; instead they are telling the victim that 'we support the right to own a gun and what theowner does with the gun is up to them'. In this hypothetical case the state is complicit with the gun user by colluding with the violator. I hope that's not too confusing...

1970-1973 "Roe" vs. Wade (7-2)

"The Constitution doesn't explicitly mention any right to privacy. But in varying contexts the Court has found the root of that right in the 1st Amendment, 4th, 5th, 9th Bill

of Rights or in the concept of liberty guaranteed by the 14th Amendment." Chief Justice Blackmun (quoted from "The Citizen's Constitution")

"The word 'liberty' was the keyword which the Supreme Courtin Roe brought the 'right of privacy' that protects women and abortions [not the fetus]. In a later opinion Justice Blackum wrote, 'This right of privacy is founded in the 14th Amendment concept of liberty'. While Justice O'Connor wrote that the 14th declared that noState shall deprive any person of life, liberty without dueprocess of law. The controlling word in this case is 'liberty'.("Citizen's Constitution")

One might ask 'what does abortion have to do with guns?' Well despite our weak Bill of Rights in the Courts view everything! Without directing aiming for it this social issue found an unknown constitutional right where none previously existed and helped jump-start the "activist" or subjective Court(s) we read in headlines today.

This famous decision was about a perceived violation of Texas' rights or government overreach. In a nutshell, NormaMcCorvey ("Roe") wanted an abortion and Wade, the D.A., said it was illegal. At the time, in every state doctor's could face criminal prosecution for performing abortions. So the lady took them to court and years later won. The plaintiff ("Roe") used the 14th Amendment's concept of "liberty" because the state prior had made her choice for her--taking away her liberty without her permission. Thus the Texas state law became illegal federally and was

overturned. This was the first Supreme Court decision to use the 14th:

see "People's History", pg. 448

"The case was a constitutional bombshell with enormous political, social and moral implications... An interpretive leap."("The Constitution: an intro", pg. 270), ("The Nine: insidethe secret world of the Supreme Court", Toobin, '08)

"At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning." Chief Justice O'Connor & Douglas

In other words, gun victims can be protected by the 5th and14th Amendments just like McCorvey was...

1970's

At this time the 2nd Amendment, after living in federal obscurity since 1781, sprouted its own wings:

"For centuries most legal scholars felt that the 2nd Amendment was only about protecting state militias [volunteers] from being disarmed by a threat from the federal government. But that changed in the '70's-'80's."("Gunfight: the battle over the right to bear arms in America")

1980 John Lennon assassination

John Lennon was a hero, spokesman and someone who brought real joy to 100's of millions of people around the world yet he was called a "phony" by his killer who shot him 4 times in the back with a .38 in front of his wife. Afterwards, Chapman sat down and read "The Catcher in the Rye" as the cops pulled up. For a month afterwards I walkedin a daze, horrified and angry at society for this grotesque travesty:

"Dr. Athens found no evidence that mental illness causes violent crime. What all had in common was 'violentization'". ("Why they kill: the discoveries of a maverick criminologist") ("Violent Criminal Acts and Actors", Athens, Phd, 1997)

What this means is people 'work up' to violent behavior gradually over time. It seldom happens overnight.

1981 President Reagan assassination attempt

The attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley happened as the president was walking outside a building. Reagan suffered a punctured lung and internal bleeding but medical attention allowed him to recover quickly. Another psychopath with a gun... Nobody was killedin the attack, though Press Secretary James Brady was left paralyzed and permanently disabled. This scenario is where we later got the "Brady Bill".

Bernard Goetz subway shooting

When the mild-looking electrical engineer, who’d been robbed before, got on the train at 14th Street, four black teens surrounded him and after one of them asked him for $5he unloaded his unlicensed revolver, hitting all four of them. He then fled before police arrived.

The identity of the white “subway vigilante” remained a mystery until he turned himself in to the New Hampshire police four days later, offering a confession that may haveshaded into revenge fantasy. All four boys survived, thoughone was paralyzed, yet Goetz became a 'folk hero' at a timewhen urban crime was widely considered out of control and daylight muggings were commonplace.

After a riveting 8 week trial that captured national headlines, it hinged on the question of whether or not he had reason to fear for his life, Goetz was convicted only of criminal possession of a lethal weapon and was sentencedto just six months in prison. Hell, I just would have giventhe kids the lousy $5.00 instead of bullets...

1983 DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services

The point of bringing up DeShaney is our government is very wishy-washy with its Constitution. Relatives of a seriouslyinjured child under the care of the state brought the suit against the Wisconsin Dept. of Social Services:

On January 22, 1983, Joshua DeShaney, age four, was broughtto the emergency room of a Wisconsin hospital with multiplebruises and abrasions. Suspecting child abuse, the hospitalstaff notified the County Department of Social Services, which immediately obtained custody of Joshua only to returnhim to his father's home a few days later. Over the next fifteen months, the Department received constant reports indicating that Joshua was being seriously abused, but it failed to take any further action to protect him.

On March 8, 1984, Joshua's father beat him so severely thathe suffered massive brain damage, leaving him profoundly retarded and confined to an institution for the rest of hislife. The Supreme Court ruled that the Department's fail toprotect Joshua was unconstitutional. This view was later overturned. ("In Our Defense: the Bill of Rights in Action")

Earlier I brought up FDR's fury at the Supreme Courts subjective and non-historical interpretations of the Bill of Rights and also here in DeShaney. The Supreme Court heldthat states have no constitutional duty to protect their citizens against private violence--essentially overriding their own classical interpretations of the 14th Amendment. DeShaney had crucial implications for constitutional law and theory. In addition to rejecting a constitutional rightto protection, DeShaney implied that the Constitution protects only our negative liberty--freedom from

governmental oppression--while imposing no positive obligations on government. This is the opposite stance of the earlier 14th Amendment: ("In Our Defense: the Bill of Rights in Action")

"The reasoning at the core of DeShaney is indefensible."

(Sourced from Duke University Law Journal, "The 1st Duty ofGovernment")

1984 San Ysidro McDonald's massacre

This mass murder happened in the border town of San Ysidro in California. Most likely a copycat crime, James Huberty entered a McDonald's restaurant and with an Uzi 9mm shot at40 people, killing 21, including 5 children and injured 19 others:

"The key word for a criminal? Excitement.”

("Inside the Criminal Mind", Samenow, Phd, '04)

The massacre lasted for 77 minutes before he was eventuallyshot dead by a police sniper. This act horrified the nationand McDonald's later razed the building which at the time Ithought was a very noble idea...

1984 U.S. vs. Leon

Since crime was sky high, cops were now able to get around our 4th Amendment of unreasonable search and seizure which later pissed off the general public. (468 U.S. 897, 1984)

1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act

"The courts are not experts on the policies implicated by gun violence."("Uncertain Justice", pg. 178)

This Act meant no automatic or military weapons for privateuse...In a nod to the gun lobby, this meant no federal registration system for guns or gun owners. In other words,if police find a gun at a crime scene they can't just punchin a serial # and track it to another state. What might theFounders have wanted in these kind of situations? Does thislaw "ensure domestic tranquility"? I think not... (Federal Law 18 U.S.C. 926)

1987 Bowers v. Hardwick (8-1)

"This case is about the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men--namely the 'right

to be left alone [by the state].'" Justice Blackmun, dissenting

(478 US 186 (1987), ("In Our Defense: the Bill of Rights inAction", Alderman/Caroline Kennedy, 1992), see also "Citizens Constitution"

In Georgia, a faggot felt that his private rights were violated when a cop caught him red-handed in the act but inhis own house. The guy lost. My main question in this book is a victim of gun violence being left alone by our Constitution's 2nd Amendment? Not if you're one of its 70,000 annual victims...

1988 Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Department

The Court of Appeals held that the police department violated the Due Process Clause by refusing to enforce a protective order that the wife had obtained against her estranged husband. 1960-1990's Crime rises--a new Liberal court system

A new liberal judicial system felt that criminals weren't the problem, society was! They were the poor people who were somehow neglected by their families or society:

"Killing them or locking them up is the tried and true ancient method. Why not try rehab?" Chief Justice Douglas ("The Court Years: the autobiography of William O. Douglas", Douglas, 1980)

A noble idea for some people:

"Most of the Supreme Court's 'landmark' decisions expanded on creating rights for criminals during the 1960's. In the Durham decision, Judge Bazelon believed that the mentally ill were not responsible for their crime."("Questioning Authority", Bazelon, 1987)

To follow that logic, the more horrible the crime the more "abnormal" their mental condition and the better chance they get off. As a result crime rates skyrocketed:

see, "The Vision of the Anointed", "Crime and Human Nature"

For example, later in the '80's John Hinckley shot President Reagan with a .22 and is now in a mental hospital. But that didn't stop him from getting a cover interview with Rolling Stone where he answered questions quite coherently:

"Between 1960 and 1976 a citizen's change of becoming a victim of a major violent crime tripled. Young criminals became especially violent as arrest rates also tripled. ("Criminal Violence, Criminal Justice"), FBI, Uniform CrimeReports 1991

"The U.S. has moved from a gun intolerant/exceptionally lowcrime of the 1870's-1930's to the high crime society in the1970-1990's." ("Men in Black: how the Supreme Court is destroying America")

1990

New drugs and drive-by shootings became almost commonplace frightening everybody. Half of these were in California. When I was working in social service I would watch cops chase blacks out of mostly white West L.A.:

'12 Killed--6 in Drive-By Shootings--on Weekend'

'At least 12 people were killed in weekend violence in the Los Angeles area, six in unrelated drive-by shootings, authorities said Sunday.'

(Oct. 8, 1990, Times Staff and Wire Reports)

1991 Florida v. Bostick

Bostick gave the cops permission to search his suitcase and found drugs. The 4th Amendment was later found invalid because the police made no threats and that Bostick had a right to refuse the search. Liberal Justice Marshall, alongwith Blackmun and Stevens, dissented whether the defendant could have terminated the encounter however.

My parallel argument here in a gun violence case is the victim has no right to refuse the governments endorsement of the 2nd Amendment. The victim did not consent to being shot. Our government cannot make laws that are intrusive and infringeon our civil liberties.

see, "Landmark Supreme Court Cases", search/seizure, pg. 288

1992

Clinton was President the economy was booming but oddly so was crime and violence. As a social critic how could this be the "greatest country in the world" with these stat's?:

17,000 murders, 18,000 suicides.(US Dept. of Commerce, Statistical Abstract U.S., 1995)

I've maintained our constitution is weak and Congress needsto update it to a modern society. Justice Kennedy on deciphering constitutional cases:

"You're required to look into a crystal ball but you don't see much there." Justice Kennedy("Crossing the Rubicon", California Lawyer, Oct. '92)

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

This was a similar "Roe" claim but in Pennsylvania. I bring this up because technically (not realistically) we have federal liberty from our government's violent gun laws. This needs to change asap:

"Liberty [from the state] encompasses rights already guaranteed to the individual against federal interference by the provisions of the first 8 amendments." Planned Parenthood, see also, "Second Amendment Primer"

"Our precedents have respected the private realm of family life which the state cannot enter... At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning.'" Chief Justice O'Connor (Planned Parenthood, 505 U.S. 833, 844, 1992)

1993 Brady Act

"Violent acts have a malevolent logic. Criminals do not 'snap' but make decisions over time and act on them." ("Violent Criminal Acts and Actors")

It took more than a decade after the Reagan assassination attempt but the Brady Act was finally put into national lawby Clinton so licensed firearm dealers could know which

buyers were prohibited from owning a gun. The Brady Act also halted the production of "assault weapons" and magazines with more than 10 rounds. It also halted a lot of"lie and buy" sales. But trying to reconcile it with a politician's ordinary view of the 2nd Amendment the Brady Act is still very weak even today.

1994 Assault weapons ban

Intratec TEC-9 with 32-round magazine; a semi-automatic pistol was formerly classified as an assault weapon under federal law. All guns made since 2000 can't be stock with more than a 10 round clip. But aftermarket clips like this one can be bought anywhere including online.

Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. The law banned the manufacture and transfer of certain semi-automatic firearmsand large-capacity magazines. The ban was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton:

"Crimes using assault-type weapons declined by 17% across cities involved--Baltimore, Miami, Milwaukee, Boston, St. Louis and Anchorage... Another study found a sharp

reduction in the number of assault weapons recovered by Baltimore police. Weil and Knox, 1997 (sourced from "Emily Gets Her Gun...but Obama wants to takeyours")

However, those who studied gun laws knew there were many holes in the law:

"The gun industry quickly and easily evaded the law by making slight, cosmetic changes to the supposedly 'banned' firearms." Violence Policy Center

("U.S. of Assault Weapons: gun makers evading the federal assault weapons ban", '04)

1995

85% of violent gun crimes in the U.S. involved a handgun. (DOJ) (sourced from, "Rise of the Warrior Cop")

1996

Tupac Shakur

Poet, rapper genius, social commentator extraordinaire, part time gangster and among the biggest selling artists inmusic history, gunned down in a hail of bullets over a lousy fist-fight in the passenger seat of a car in Las Vegas. Handgun usage are almost always emotional and not rational acts. This crime has never been solved...

1997 Printz v. U.S.

"The Supreme Court has made many bad and inequitable decisions."("The Case against the Supreme Court", Chemerinsky)

This ruling prohibited state officials to perform federal duties like gun regulation or tracking. The Court struck down a key provision of the earlier Brady Act which was called a "federal intrusion" by the Court. As a historical originalist, Scalia (with the majority) reasoned that it forced state officials to act as agents of the federal government which violated independent states rights. (10th Amendment)

Apparently the Court wasn't aware that there are 50 other states in America and not just one Big One. In a dissent, Justice Stevens wanted Prinz lifted from the law-books and the Constitution changed or revised. (521 U.S. 898, 1997),

see "Six Amendments: how and why we should change the Constitution", Justice of Supreme Court Stevens, '14", "Uncertain Justice", pg. 163

1998

A sociologist at the time notes:

"Violence is so much worse in America than in comparable countries despite our massive investment in prisons."("Crime and Punishment in America", Currie, 1998/2013)

1998/NICS

The NICS is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It is not a national registry and because of Printz the 50 states are not required to comply. Unfortunately forour society at large most don't. And despite what the Rightand our constitutionalist's scream about this tells us thatour United States are hardly "united" at all...

Over a span of the next 10 years, the NICS has checked about 176,000,000 gun sales but denied about 1,000,000. However, the stats on the quick computer background check are not good and even rabid pro-gun groups criticize the federal agency for not doing its job: (www.FBI.gov)

"Only about half of 1% of new gun registers are denied through NICS. (2010)

(Ron Frandsen, "Enforcement of the Brady Act, 2010, Regional Justice Indo Service, Aug. 2012)

While of those, half (50%) of the states are not complying either through indifference or an antiquated 1790 fear of afederal government raging against its citizens:

"Half the states are not putting in felony convictions, restraining orders or mental health records into NICS. If they're not in the system how can the gun dealer know not to make the sale? Lawrence Keane, National Shooting SportsFoundation, (Jan. '13, quoted from "Emily Gets Her Gun")

"There are 61 agencies that keep mental health data for theFBI but just nine of them turn over records... In 2010, Massachusetts gave NICS just one name of a dangerously mentally-ill person.

("Fatal Gaps: How missing records in the federal backgroundcheck system put guns into the hands of killers", Mayors against illegal guns, Nov. '11), (State Rankings, FixNICS,2013)

Those with a protective order for stalking, harassing or threatening an intimate partner supposedly can't buy a gun.Convicted domestic abusers are also banned and the check takes just a couple minutes. However, California has a 10-day waiting period regardless--a very wise move.

If a buyer is denied they can appeal but if they are a convicted felon the Fed's are supposed to investigate and prosecute. However they rarely do. (from, "Emily Gets Her Gun")

1999 Columbine

Photo from a cafeteria video still

"Criminals intend to prevail in every situation whether by stealth, intimidation or brute force. They are not beyond resorting to violence when he feels thwarted and powerless." ("Inside the Criminal Mind")

John Savage, an acquaintance of Klebold's, asked him what they were doing shooting at school kids to which he answered:

"Oh, just killing people." Dylan Klebold("Columbine")

On April 20, the two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan, murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher. They injured 24 additional students including one boy that is permanently paralyzed. Harris used a 12 gauge shotgun

and a Hi-Point 9 mm Carbine which he fired almost 100 times. His best friend Klebold used a 9mm Intratec (showed earlier) and 12 gauge double-barreled sawed-off shotgun. The pair then committed suicide.

In the months prior to the attacks, Harris and Klebold acquired two 9mm handguns and two 12 gauge shotguns from a 'straw' buyer' friend Robyn Anderson at the Tanner Gun Showin December 1998:

"With guns Harris felt invincible. The day he bought his first gun he wrote: 'I feel more confident, stronger, more God-like.' Columbine Documents(Columbine Documents, Jefferson County, see also, "Far Fromthe Tree", pg. 587-97)

The bizarreness of this crime still haunts millions of people to this day and has been constantly referred to by shooters in later school attacks. For example, a couple months after Columbine, Pennsylvania school districts received 354 threats of school violence far exceeding the 1or 2 threats normally. That's a 2000-3500% increase of threats within just a few months. ("The Last Gun") , (LA Times, Nov. 28, 2013)

2000-01

The great majority of guns are bought off the street without any record. But no one sheds a tear that we must register our cars to the government so why are tens of millions of guns being excluded?:

Friends/relative purchases and stolen guns are almost 75% of all guns bought/sold. Stores sold just 20% of guns on the street for that year. Bureau of Justice statistic (Ludwig & Cook, 2000, ATF study)

A majority of gun owners support background checks (72%), in private sales (66%) and a gun-safety course (80%). (Nat'l Gun Policy Survey), (National Opinion Research Center, 2001)

2003

If you can read the print above red is 180,000+ crimes witha firearm.

Republican's under Bush let the 10 year "assault weapon" ban expire. The guns weren't automatic assault weapons but cosmetically made to look like military weapons:

A CDC task force concluded that "evidence was insufficient to ban high-capacity magazines." (CDC, Prevention and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,Oct. 3, 2003)

2004-2005

"Victims of crime are neglected or mistreated from the timepolice arrive until after the case is finally disposed of in court.”("Inside the Criminal Mind")

My point above is our government and the police are oddly ambivalent to its own citizens. It gives them "rights" but are also the first one to try and undermine them by taking them away. Even the Founder's recognized our need for the court system to hammer things out...Since the assault weapons ban expired in 2003 legislation to renew the ban has been proposed a number of times but

unsuccessfully. In 2003, 2005, and 2007, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (NY-D) introduced a bill that would have renewed the assault weapons ban for an additional 10 years. The bill never left committee:

"A psychologist claims that 4% of the U.S. are sociopaths who have no capacity to love or empathize and are 'without a conscious.' Stout, PhD("The Sociopath Next Door: the ruthless vs. the rest of us", Stout, '05)

We see these rather infamous people on the local news almost daily. And without access to any guns we wouldn't see them on the news anymore:

Firearm homicides increased nearly 60% among 25-45 yr. old black men in California the past 7 yrs. [2004].("Crime and Punishment in America", Currie, 1998/2013)

2005 Florida's Open Carry Laws

This new law enabled residents to carry weapons with just rudimentary training and expand the territory beyond a person's house into a "shoot 'em anywhere" rule where the victimizer have "no duty to retreat". Its crudeness, vulgarity and shear meanness would go back to Colony days where Pilgrim's shot up the Native Indians over their land:

"We never said the street is your castle". Florida State Senator Steve Geller (D-Hollandale Bch.)

"Whether it's trick-or-treaters or kids playing in a yard of someone who doesn't want them there or some drunk college kid stumbling into the wrong house you're encouraging others to use deadly force where it shouldn't be used." John Timoney, Hollandale police Chief (NY Times, April 27, '05), ("Last Gun", pg. 128)

Despite his initial bravery, Geller chickened out and endedup voting for the new law:

"We [Demo's] would be seen as soft on crime." Geller(Palm Bch. Post, March 24, '05)

Obviously our lawmakers know very little about sociology. While the local Florida newspapers were not too happy with the Democrats:

"Another example of cowardice by lawmakers who put political ambition ahead of public safety." (Brandenton Herald, April 21, '05)

2006

The stats above are indicative of our idealized police state and a war with society in general. This irks the marginal's and the criminal types who are always seething about 'the government' or having shoot outs with the cops over trivial matters:

"The Constitution is changeable. If they wish voters can gothrough the amendment process detailed in Article V... The bad news is if the gun rights are watered down or taken away the risk of tyranny [by the govt.] will increase. Glenn Beck . ("Control: exposing the truth about Guns")

As I touched on earlier, in the 1980's Republicans and Democrats were able to pass stricter zero tolerance "3-strikes and your out" laws with the aim of creating a 'safesociety'. But all that did is put marginal people in jails.Of course the local police were only more than happy to

keep busy by arresting more people! However, the guns laws themselves--what supposedly affected crime-- remained the same.

"The system is designed to arrest you--not help you. Two former Miami cops("Arrest-Proof Yourself", Carson/Denham, '07)

2007 Virginia Tech Massacre

Video stills from tape to NBC

"Violentization is an authentic developmental process.("Violent Criminal Acts and Actors")

The Virginia Tech massacre was another school shooting where the killer, Cho, shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in two attacks before committing suicide.The massacre was the deadliest incident by a gunman in U.S.history. We know now what brought the incident on--"mental illness". Yet Cho easily slipped through the NICS database--and still would today.

Two hours after the first killing, Cho went to a post office and mailed writings and video recording to NBC News.Most of it didn't make any sense. The original and very frightening video that I originally saw is no longer on Youtube for fear of copycats. In a backpack, he carried several chains, locks, a hammer, a knife, two handguns with nineteen 10 and 15 round magazines and nearly 400 rounds of ammo.

On the 2nd floor of classrooms, Cho shot his way in or tried to shoot his way into 4 classrooms. During the secondassault, he had fired at least 174 rounds, killing 30 students and wounding 17 more. All of the victims were shotat least three times each. To me, what's even more amazing is why didn't 100's of students try to overpower a lone gunman instead of timidly hiding under desks thus ending their life?:

"A Virginia court declared Cho him to be a danger to himself in 2005 and sent him for psychiatric treatment. Because of gaps between federal and Virginia state laws, the state didn't report Cho's status to the NICS. ("U.S. Rules Made Killer Ineligible to Purchase Gun", New York Times, April 21, 2007)

The Virginia Tech Review Panel Report faulted university officials for failing to share information that would have shed light on the seriousness of Cho's problems. The report also pointed to failures by Virginia Tech's counseling center, flaws in Virginia's mental health laws, and inadequate state mental health services.

Virginia Tech students mourn the victims at a candlelight vigil. Nice gesture but as usual nothing has changed one iota about gun laws...

Legal Issues

The massacre prompted the state of Virginia to close legal loopholes that had previously allowed Cho to purchase handguns without detection by the NICS.In June 2008, a judge approved an $11 million settlement ina suit against the state of Virginia by 24 of the 32 victims' families. The parents of 2 students who were killed filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit and argued thatlives could have been spared if school officials had moved more quickly to alert the campus after the first 2 victims were shot in a dorm. My point of this? Gun victims were able to sue the state because the state and the campus didn't protect them:

"A jury found that Virginia Tech was guilty of negligence for delaying a campus warning. ("Jury finds Va. Tech negligent in '07 shootings", Associated Press. /Houston Chronicle, January 10, 2013)

However in a reverse-decision 5 years later (2013) a highercourt ruled on the side of the defense--Virginia and Virginia Tech--claiming the school was not liable in a

civil suit! Mind-blowing! Meaning our courts cannot be trusted with a sound and reasonable judgment anymore...(LA times, Oct. 29-31, Nov. 1)

NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007

Just after the Virginia Tech massacre Congress introduced asomewhat stronger NICS bill: (H.R.2640)

Application to persons who have been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution:

The State shall make available to the Attorney General, foruse by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the name and other relevant identifying informationof persons adjudicated as mentally defective or those committed to mental institutions to assist the Attorney General in enforcing section 922 of title 18.

Oddly, many states were still indifferent or lazy regardingthe 'red flags' to NICS and the bill was still voluntary. If states didn't feel like sending it they didn't!Now over half the states don't submit records to NICS (federal). But the ones that do tend not to have mass shootings. Pennsylvania had the most with 650,000 and California 2nd with 529,000. National Shooting Sports Foundation (sourced from "Emily Gets Her Gun...")

Grassley/Cruz bill

Six years later, Senator's Grassley & Cruz offered an alternative Amendment which addressed the lack of

prosecutions under NICS. The GOP plan gave schools more guards, gave incentives to states to put mental health records into NICS. Also the bill criminalized 'straw' purchases (friends/relatives buying guns) plus gun trafficking. Despite the support from a few Demo's, the Senate bill failed 52-48.

("Sens. Grassley and Cruz roll out alternative gun control bill", The Hill, 4/17/13)

2008

"In a California study, 62% of voters favored a nationwide ban on assault weapon sales. (USC Dornslife/L.A. Times poll, Times, Nov. 11, 2013)

Today there are many myths still in our modern society: "Jesus is Coming Back" would be a big myth or "The stock market wll always be Bull" is still another.”The thought orneed of having a gun lying around is also a big myth. But in 2008, Obama's reelection and the ensuing attack on the

2nd Amendment resulted in the biggest increase of gun salesin history! American's have stocked up on firearms out of fear that Obama will take their guns! Ruger showed a 40% growth over the previous year. Clearly this must be out of paranoia...

2008 D.C. vs. Heller

"What was the language understood to mean when the Constitution was written? The right secured by the 2nd Amendment is not unlimited" Justice Scalia (from the constitutional notes on Heller)

"Until Heller, the federal courts never invalidated a single gun control law."("Heritage Guide to the Constitution", Lund)

In D.C., due to its horrendous crime rate with about 600% more crime than the rest of the country, passed an ordinance back in 1975 banning handguns and semi-auto rifles. The Heller decision faced court challenges from gun groups and gun owners who claimed that laws banning pistolsfrom the city was unconstitutional. And in this landmark decision pro-guns won... This was the first Supreme Court case in U.S. history to decide whether the 2nd Amendment protects a right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. Prior, that was left up to the states:

"In Heller, the Court went to 'original meaning' and not a subjective meaning."("Uncertain Justice")

Heller

In a close decision, the Supreme Court struck down the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 as unconstitutional (5-4) and said that handguns are "arms" for the purposes of the 2nd Amendment. But Scalia's interpretation of the 2nd was vague and unclear since his "originalist" view would be contradictory:

"I suppose there are hand-held rocket launchers that can bring down airplanes. This will have to be decided." Justice Scalia (quoted in "Emily")

Four Justices--Breyer, Stevens, Ginsburg and Souter--dissented and charged the majority with a grave error. A dissenting judge:

"If a person has a handgun in the home that he can use for self-defense then he also has a handgun that he can use to commit suicide or engage in acts of domestic violence." Supreme Court Justice Breyer

"Both decisions misinterpreted the law. The decisions in Heller and Miller were profoundly unwise. Policies concerning gun control should be decided by elected official's not federal judges. The bench should not have voted."Supreme Court Justice Stevens(from, "Six Amendments")

In 2008, Representative Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) introduced abill to reinstate the assault weapons ban for 10 years and expand the list of banned weapons. It too died in a sea of apathy... But still meaningful to other states, Heller didn't answer each state government curbs on guns, meaning other states can still make petitions.

2009

In 2009, 6,977,700 adults were under correctional supervision: probation, parole, jail, or prison. About 2 million were either in county jail or in prison. No other civilized country in the world comes close to these negative stats. (Bureau of Justice)

2010 McDonald vs. Chicago

"Heller and McDonald are narrow and cautious opinions disowning any effort to 'clarify the entire field' of 2nd Amendment law... The Court didn't offer guidance." ("Uncertain Justice", pg. 155)

And to this day still hasn't... Just like the earlier case in Heller Chicago, another violent city, (my dad's entire office was once robbed at gunpoint) had outlawed guns within its city limits. McDonald v. Chicago was another landmark decision of the Supreme Court determined whether the 2nd Amendment applied to individual states.

Initially the Court had upheld a Chicago-ordinance banning the possession of handguns as well as other regulations affecting rifles and shotguns, citing U.S. vs. Cruikshank, Presser vs. Illinois, and Miller vs. Texas. But the SupremeCourt, in a close 5–4 decision, overrode the lower court's decision holding that the 2nd Amendment is under the 14th Amendment, thus protecting those rights from reversal by

local governments. Pro-gun groups sponsored the litigation on behalf of several Chicago residents, including retiree Otis McDonald. Like the decision in Roe this means that guns are legal in all 50 states regardless of local injunctions.

Fortunately, this decision doesn't interfere with my theorythat a gun victim's rights are violated or infringed by the2nd Amendment however...

2011

"Gun rights and gun control go hand in hand. In any courtroom in America guns are left outside for security reasons. Having a gun inside isn't a fundamental right but rather an unwelcomed threat. ("Gunfight")

"Some argue that it is undemocratic to let the dead hand ofthe past [the 2nd Amendment] rule the present." ("Uncertain Justice: the Roberts Court and the Constitution", Tribe/Matz, '14, pg. 164)

Because American's have moved out of the cities and into the suburbs the last 30 years firearm murders in the U.S. declined 40%--from 18,000 in 1993 to 11,000 in 2011, according to a Justice Dept. study. But non-fatal injuries yearly are still enough to populate a small city--73,000 a year. (Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence), (DOJ, May 2013)

As a statistical argument that's about 84,000 very violent people roaming around the U.S. every year if we add the twotogether. So over the past 10 year span that would equate

to roughly 884,000 people violent people still roaming around--if they haven't been caught or gave up violence entirely. Meanwhile, through greater fundamentalist views of the 2nd Amendment by our out of touch judges guns are getting easier and easier to obtain and the gun violence rises.

2011 Tucson shooting

"Gun violence in America is out of control. When Jefferson and his cohorts wrote the Constitution they never had in mind that American's could legally and easily buy high-powered weapons to murder other American's."("Shooting Straight")

In Arizona Rep. Gabriel Giffords was holding a meeting innocently called "Congress on Your Corner" in the parking lot of a Safeway store when Jared Loughner drew a pistol with a 33 shot clip and shot her in the head before firing on dozens of other people, killing six including a child. Only later was Loughner diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic (delusional) and sentenced to life in prison

and not a state hospital. What was shocking to millions of people was that he really enjoyed the shooting and even smiled for the mug shot. Of course afterward the Pro-gun lobby was backed into a corner:

"We have a madmen problem in America. We have a felony recidivism problem in America." Ted Nugent (interview to Piers Morgan, CNN, Feb. 4, 2013)

"I assumed the horrifying assassination attempt on a Congresswomen would lead to tougher laws in America--but nothing happened." Piers Morgan("Shooting Straight: guns, gays, God and George Clooney", Piers Morgan, 2013)

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Gifford (Ariz.-D) and some other victims

Tucson shooting

Since that time, thanks to our "freedom" of the archaic 2ndAmendment there have been no more "Congress on you corner" anywhere in the U.S. since then... How nice!

Trayvon Martin

"'Stand Your Ground' laws send a message that encourages people to shoot first and ask questions later. And lax concealed-carry laws allow dangerous people to carry loadedhidden handguns in public. We can expect more tragedies like Trayvon Martin’s'.Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

The most hated man in America 2013? Easily George Zimmerman (not Obama!). It would be redundant to say much about this case except the fact how easy it is in Florida ("the Gunshine State") to get a concealed gun permit. Therethe permit holder doesn't have to be in a place of risk either like a cab driver or a job where cash is around.

Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer able to legally carry a gun.

The 'Stand Your Ground' laws radically expand self-defense law to give individuals the right to use deadly force to defend themselves without any requirement to evade or retreat from a dangerous situation. This law is unprecedented and wasn't even closed to being used in our so-called "Wild West" days. Meaning our 20th/21st century'sgun laws have regressed and that we are less civilized thanAmerican's from the 1800's. Zimmerman also used this weird law protection in his defense. The NRA and ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) have also been proponents of Stand Your Ground laws:

"People who get concealed carry licenses are 'law-abiding',upstanding community leaders. These citizens don't commit violent crimes." Tanya Metaksa, NRA Exec.,

(quoted from Violence Policy Center, March 22, 2012)

"Good people make good decisions. That's why they're good people." NRA (quoted from "The Last Gun")

In this case, and contrary to the NRA's position, the pistol was the problem not the answer as Zimmerman's life was not at risk as Martin was unarmed. This shows the risk of guns lying around and the lack of maturity when to use it.

Colorado Shooting

James Holmes as "the Joker"

"He would reload and shoot... It almost seemed like fun to him."(Ft. Collins Coloradoan, July 20, '12)

At a midnight movie Holmes sprayed the audience with a 12-gauge Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun, first at the ceiling and then at the audience. He also fired a Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round drum magazine, which malfunctioned after reportedly firing about45 rounds. Finally, he fired a Glock 22 40-caliber handgun.One victims face was so marred by a shotgun blast that a cop couldn't tell if it was a guy or a girl. What did theseAmerican's do that was wrong?:

"The lack of any effective, consistent federal gun control is exposed for the farce that it is. Piers Morgan ("Shooting Straight")

The 12 shooting victims Sept. 2, 2012

"The human mind can rationalize anything." Stanford psychologist Phillip Zimbardo

Portland Mall Shooting

"Police said he didn't seem to have a real motive.(Sourced from "Shooting Straight: guns, gays, God and George Clooney")

Witnesses said a masked man with a gun headed toward the food court at the Clackamas Town Center mall. Another womantold CNN affiliate KOIN that she saw a man wearing a hockeymask jogging through Macy's and wielding an assault rifle. People were screaming as gunfire rang out through the mall.One man said he "heard two shots, then 15 or 16 more shots," he told CNN affiliate KGW. Another witness told CNN he tried to help a wounded woman who was lying on the ground by a cell phone store. "She had apparently been shotin the chest and I couldn't get her turned over to help her," said Antonio Charro, who had been shopping at the mall. "She wasn't breathing."

Three people were killed, including the shooter, said Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot, he said. Twenty were seriously wounded.

Newtown, Ct.

"Columbine was his obsession..."

(Reports of the States Attorney on the Shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary, District of Danbury), (LA Times, Nov. 28, 2013)

I must ask if having our 2nd Amendment helped or hurt the mother pictured above? Is this the price now of living in America, "Land of the Free"?

Twenty-six people -- 20 students and six adults -- were shot and killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. Adam Lanza used a .223 rifle made by Bushmaster with a 30 round clip plus aGlock 10 mm and a Sig-Sauer 9 mm:

"The common motive behind many crimes that appear senselessis kicks. Fantasizing about violent acts... The thrill of doing the forbidden."("Inside the Criminal Mind")

"You know, my little boy is never going to come back..." Neil Heskin, father of victim (sourced from, "Shooting Straight")

A Supreme Court Justice reacts:

"The Newton killings are only a fragment of the total harm caused by the misuse of firearms...Tragedies like Sandy Hook are preventable." Justice Stevens("Six Amendments")

Some 1st grade victims

2013

"In Massachusetts gun ownership is about 13%, the lowest inthe nation. But in Louisiana the gun ownership is 45% whichconversely has a murder rate five times higher than Massachusetts. Violence Policy Center (April 23, '12)

How does the NRA and gun-state Republican's account for that? They don't. They ignore statistics and blithely side with the 2nd Amendment:

On April 17, 2013, the Senate voted 60 to 40 against reinstating the federal assault weapons ban. As we've seen the law was weak to begin with.(LA Times, April 17, 2013)

Oakland, Ca.

'In 2012, 4149 gun-related crimes or about 12 a day'.(L.A. Times, Sept. 14, '13)

'Oakland shooting victim Alaysha Carradine, 8, was murderedin a hail of bullets at a slumber party. Robberies with a firearm in Oakland areup nearly 50% from last year'. (LA Times, Sept. 14, 2013)

Tell me NRA, what would Alaysha say about the 2nd Amendment? Would she believe in the right for a criminal's all too easy access to 270 million guns? To me, by denying that makes then complicit in murder:

'BlOODBATH-36 Shot in Chicago over Weekend'

Father's Day weekend was marred by violence in Chicago, with a total of 36 people shot, seven fatally. (AP, June 16, 2013)

Don't forget our activist, subjective and amoral Supreme Court which earlier overturned the city ban on handguns in Chicago in effect being accomplices in this murder:

"The American homicide rate resembles the rates in less developed and often very troubled countries like the Ukraine or Thailand than advanced nations like Western Europe, Canada or Australia. ("Crime and Punishment in America")

'FBI: Navy Yard Shooter 'delusional'

'There's a guy slaughtering people with a shotgun'.

Alexis wasn't that "delusional" not to take the time to sawoff his shotgun with a hacksaw so he could kill more workers. He went on to kill 12 people that day and wound 4 others.

In these type of mass shootings the cops are always a step too late... However, the NRA made a public statement-- not about the shotgun that blew them apart but about the "mentally ill"--who psychiatrist's conclude are not mentally ill to begin with:

"Lets fix this broken system right now which nobody wants to fix". Wayne LaPierre, NRA (CNN.com Sept. 22, '13)

DETROIT

'Black woman shot in head seeking help in white neighborhood'

"Hate/hatred: a deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger towards a person or group. Hatred is the desire to harm or cause pain and the feelings of pleasure at their misfortune. Reber/Reber, Phd's

The family of Renisha McBride, 19, seeks answers after she was shot. “You see a young black lady on your porch and youshoot?” demanded Bernita Sparks, the aunt of slain Detroit 19-year-old Renisha McBride. McBride was shot in the head and killed when, according to her family, she was seeking help, knocking on doors in a White neighborhood after her car crashed. Self-defense gone wrong is not a sufficient excuse for a bullet in the head, McBride’s family has stressed:

“He shot her in the head … for what? For knocking on his door,” said Spinks. “If he felt scared or threatened, he should have called 911.”

Michigan doesn't have any 'stand your ground' laws but the shooter, Theodore Wafer (apparently a white racist) has been arrested has denied any wrongdoing. (Salon, Nov. 6, '13/ LA Times, Nov. 16, '13)

Recall I earlier said where the Colonist's, those who wrotethe Constitution, called each other "Brethren"? This sad situation is far, far from the true meaning of the original2nd Amendment... Why do we even try to support it anymore?

LOS ANGELES LAX

'1 TSA agent killed, 3 wounded by gunman armed with a .223 assault-type rifle'

"This apparently was another example of a 'law-abiding citizen' going berserk with his firearm. Further punching holes in the gun-worshipers argument that all gun control does is harass law-abiding citizens... Columnist, George Skelton (L.A. Times, Nov. 11, '13)

School shooting--Colorado

An 18 yr. old stormed a high school with a shotgun looking for a librarian but instead randomly shot a 17 yr. old girlin the head, killing her, then killed himself. When I was in high school all we did was laugh and have fun. Shooting somebody would have been completely unthinkable. What has changed in society here?:

"We cannot begin to understand why Karl did what he did," the parent's said.  (CNN, Dec. 16, '13)

Sheriff Grayson Robinson said that 18-year-old Karl Piersonlegally purchased the shotgun and ammunition he used in Friday's rampage at Arapahoe High School:

Yahoo comments:

"Yes, he had problems with reality. So why did this high school student have legal access to a shotgun? Repeal the 2nd Amendment!

Herr S at 2:38 PM December 15, 2013

2012-2013 NICS

American's get angrier with Washington DC:

91% of American's support criminal background checks for all gun sales and 31% want stricter gun-control laws passed.

Gallup (Gallup poll, Jan. 23, '13), (Gallup, Jan. 2014, "Americans dissatisfied with gun laws highest since '01, Riffkin)

But because of the anti-federal Printz decision the Green states above do not give the NICS their gun info. As mentioned earlier just 1% are rejected:

"Nearly 21,000,000 criminal records are not accessible by NICS. NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, findings

In 2013, the anti-crime amendment that got almost every single vote in the Senate was sponsored by Tom Harkin (Iowa-D). It required mental health and felony records be put into NICS so truly dangerous people are prevented from legally buying guns. But later Sen. Reid pulled the entire legislation from a vote: (Mental Health Awareness Act of 2013, S 689)

"We're going to hit pause and freeze the background check bill where it is." Reid said on the Senate floor(Congressional Record, Proceedings and Debates of the 113thCongress, April 18, 2013)

www.fbi.gov

Did somebody give Reid a bribe? Later the People are mad ashell:

Protesters stand in front of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's Louisville office. More than 70% of respondentssupport the U.S. Senate trying again on background checks. (US News & World Report, May 23, 2013)

U.S. Gun registration

"Both the state and federal governments don't 'sponsor' guns. One can't buy guns from the government'" ("Citizen's Constitution")

Every state has different rules for registration. For instance, California has a few more controls than Arizona which has virtually none at all:

Arizona

State permit required to purchase? No.

Firearm registration required? No.

"Assault weapon" prohibition or restrictions? No.

Magazine Capacity Restriction? Magazine Capacity Restriction? No.

Open carry allowed? Yes.

California

Unlike most other states, California has no provision in its constitution that guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. Its Supreme Court says that most of California's gun laws are constitutional based on the fact that it doesn't guarantee private citizens the right to purchase, possess, or carry firearms. All firearm sales arerecorded by the state and have a 10-day waiting period.

But recent US Supreme Court decisions of Heller (2008) and McDonald (2010) established that the 2nd Amendment applies to all states and many of California's gun laws are now being challenged in the federal courts.

Although California is renowned for its 'red tape' still its gun registration laws are still not very restrictive:

State permit to purchase? No.

Firearm registration for DOJ? Rifles, no. Handguns, yes.

Owner license required? No.

"Assault weapon" law? Yes.

Magazine Capacity Restriction? Yes.

Buying a gun in general

If buying a gun the buyer fills out a form with just 15 basic questions which includes the sellers Federal License #.

The seller dials up ATF/DOJ to see whether the buyer is a convicted felon, a fugitive from justice, dishonorable discharge, harassment or illegal alien. If they are the seller notes that on the form and marks "denied". The rest proceed or can be delayed.

Bob Arthur owns Shooters Supply in Berlin, Md. I wonder whyis this guy smiling?

Background check--what it really takes to buy a gun:

There's half a page of "yes or no" questions. The social security number is optional:

Once I witnessed a gun store owner telling a buyer not to put down his social security # on the application permit, fearful of tracing it back to the owner. "Big Brother" apparently scares millions of gun owners.

"Have you ever been convicted in any court of a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could have imprisoned you for more than one year, even if you received a shorter sentence including probation?""Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?"

Arthur has to write down the type of gun -- the make and model and the serial number. Then, he calls the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, in Clarksburg, W.V., and he gives them only the most basic information: name, address, driver's license number.

Buying a pistol

In Maryland if you want to buy a semi-automatic, like the AK-47 on the wall, would require additional paperwork. First, you need to show Arthur your certificate from a firearms safety training course. (You can take one online in 30 minutes.) Then, there's a form that lets the MarylandState Police check for any record of a mental disorder or violent behavior.On another form, you have to list current and past employers, and 3 personal references. According to Arthur on handguns and semi-automatics, "They get the make, the caliber, the type, the finish, the barrel length, the model, the serial number, and what country of origin it was

from." Arthur mails one copy to Maryland State Police Headquarters.Police backlogged

At state Police Headquarters in Pikesville, outside of Baltimore several investigators go through applications, checking 16 databases. By law, the State Police have seven days to do this. If Arthur doesn't hear back from the StatePolice after seven days, Maryland law says he and the customer don't have to wait any longer. He can hand over that Colt pistol.Right now, Arthur says a state background check takes a month. Looks like they get the pistol anyway!

If you buy a firearm from someone else -- a friend, someoneyou met online, odds are there would be no background check, no paperwork, and no record a transaction took place.Advocates for universal background checks say they would ensure fewer guns end up in the hands of people who shouldn't have them, and more data would make it easier forlaw enforcement to trace how criminals get guns:

"If we retained centralized information, even if just on the gun itself, then ATF could follow the gun, not the purchasers", Wintemute says. He heads the violence prevention research program at UC Davis.

That is possible under state law in California, where Wintemute lives but that is not possible nationwide.(Story from Marketplace.org, Feb. 8, 2013)

Gun Shows

"The gun people have an obsession." Chris Matthews("Hardball", MSNBC, June 13, 2013)

"Almost half (50%) of all gun sales are private transactions. Meaning no procedures, no ID, no background check, no restrictions."(Newsweek, "Bullet Initiative", 7/24/15, Eichenwald) Currently just 5 states require background checks at gun shows, meaning the other 45 states aren't required. Also, private parties can also sell at gun shows without restrictions or paperwork at all. But just 4% of all gun sales come from gun shows and 90% of vendors are licensed dealers so their buyers would have to do the same NICS background check as anywhere else. DOJ (DOJ, "Firearm Violence, 1993-2011", May, '13), Law Centerto Prevent Gun Violence

NRA/Gun Owners of America

"We are unswayed by the complexities of modern life." NRA (National Conference of Commissioners, U.S. Congress Ways/Means, 73d, 1934)The NRA is a nonprofit group founded in 1871 and currently has 5 million members. For 100 years it was a peaceful group but now it has problems with the Left and Center overits wacky interpretations of the 2nd Amendment. Because of this, it sees itself as a persecuted "civil rights" group--albeit an extreme Right one. Not so surprisingly, most gun owners don't like them nor subscribeto their politics or their take on freedom. But unfortunately for our American society most politicians do...

1930's

The NRA-- which fights against nearly every gun control lawtoday-- was the polar opposite in the '30's by supporting restrictive gun laws. The NRA's president, Karl Frederick, a NY lawyer from Harvard, was a proponent of gun control who helped draft, with the FDR Administration, the RevolverAct, the Uniform Firearms Act/National Firearms Act of 1934and the Federal Firearms Act of 1938:

"I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses."NRA President Frederick (from "NRA: $$$, Firepower and Fear", Sugarmann, 1992)

1960's

The NRA endorsed a federal law for a 7-day waiting period for background checks! Can you imagine? A pamphlet noted:

"A waiting period could help in reducing crimes of passion in preventing people with criminal records or dangerous mental illnesses from acquiring guns. This protects citizens of good character." NRA Sec. Daniel

(quoted from American Rifleman, March 1968)

1990's to present

Thirty years later now its politics and monthly magazines do a complete flip-flop and states, "that rogue government agents will start to go house to house kicking in gun owners doors": (Quoted from "Gun Fight")

"Gun control has no place in a free society...The courts are slowly sucking the life out of our constitutional rights."

Larry Pratt, Gun Owners of America (Gunowners.org, March, 1997)

"Take away the guns and only the criminals will have them."Gun rights motto

Get in the NRA's way and they toss out "gun grabbing" Demo's from office as what happened recently in Colorado--apro-gun state:

("Mile-High Mutiny: voters deliver a blow to gun control and Colorado's liberal shift", Time, Sept. 23,'13)

"Obama wants to erase the 2nd Amendment from the Bill of Rights and exorcise it from the U.S. Constitution." NRA CEO Wayne La Pierre (quoted from "Gun Fight")

What don't they want?

1). Illegal guns on the streets.

2). Too much government oversight/interference/legislation.

3). No guns registered.

4).The Brady Act.

5). Don't want mentally ill having guns:

"What's unfortunate is Obama's administration is doing virtually nothing for American's, making sure that people who are dangerous don't have access to firearms." Chris Cox, NRA lawyer

(Interview with author from "Emily Gets Her Gun", US Government Printing Office, April 18, 2013, www.gpo.org)

The Ultra-paranoid LaPierre

"I do not think law-abiding people want every gun sale in the country be under the thumb of the federal government...We all know that homicidal maniacs, criminals and the insane don't abide by the law." La Pierre to Senate(testifying to U.S. Senate, Jan. 13, '13)

"When all else fails, the 2nd Amendment is the one right that prevails. A capacity to live free from fear. The rightto keep and bear arms is our first freedom as American's." Charlton Heston

Most politicians with any type of gun legislation still have to vet themselves through the NRA's 'grinder' first tosee whether it will pass or not. And once enacted, weaker gun laws--including laws that protect against domestic violence:

"In statehouses across the country, the N.R.A. and other gun-rights groups have beaten back legislation mandating the surrender of firearms in domestic violence situations. They argue that gun ownership, as a fundamental constitutional right, should not be stripped away for anything less serious than a felony conviction — and certainly not, as an N.R.A. lobbyist in Washington State put it to legislators, for the 'mere issuance of court orders.'” (NY Times, March 17, 2013)

And even in tragedies like the Virginia Tech massacre the NRA played gun group politics, fearful that the findings bythe Virginia Tech Review Panel might lead to stronger background laws within Virginia. Pro gun rights parties viewed this move as an unwarranted expansion and akin to 'full gun registration for all gun sales'. Undoubtedly, this is a paranoid myth that millions still believe in:

("Report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel". Commonwealth of Virginia. September 16, 2008)

"The NRA's style combines a vehement 'patriotic' meanness with a ruthless willingness to say or do anything to defeateven the most modest proposal to regulate guns."("The Last Gun: how changes in the gun industry are killingAmericans", Diaz, '13)

GOP stance on guns today

The "gun grabbers" propaganda comes from the extreme right where any form of gun control is a no-no. It's obvious to others that they just dance around the issue and offer little guidance. Some of these outlandish knee-jerk remarksare why the GOP still loses a lot of elections:

"We're not going to do anything about it [the mass shootingof the Congresswomen] because we believe in the 2nd Amendment." Senator Lindsey Graham (S.Car.-R), (sourced from "Shooting Straight")

"The left is trying to control government...Gun owners in America feel under siege by the very people who represent them." former Texas governor Rick Perry(sourced from "Emily")

To many Republicans, having the 2nd Amendment around obviously trumps even cold-blooded murder! Apparently many of our politicians are very shallow people who know nothingabout its long history:

"More government intervention in our lives with regards to the 2nd Amendment is unacceptable. Those are rights that are sacred. People fought and died for and we're a party that is going to stand up for them." Priebus, GOP National committee chairman (sourced from "Emily")

"I respect the 2nd Amendment and its key role in preservingfreedom." Glenn Beck

("Control: exposing the truth about guns", pg. 60)

A Republican Colorado's view on gun control:

"We don't need a New York Mayor telling us how much salt weneed or the size of the ammunition magazines on our guns." State senator Bernie Herpin (Col.-R) (Time, Sept. 23, 2013)

"The fear of crime is why people want guns." ("Emily Gets Her Gun...")

"I fail to see how passing additional laws that the DOJ won't enforce is going to make America any safer." Sen. John Cornyn (Texas-R)

(Cornyn at a Senate Judiciary Committee, Jan. 2013, Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, April 13, '11)

"If my rights under the Constitution are limited by the sensibilities of others [for gun control] I don't have a whole lot of rights." Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.Car.-R) (sourced from "Shooting Straight")

The 2nd Amendment isn't your only "right" Senator...

Democratic Party's stance

By in large the Democrat's political stance is always 'moregovernment, more government oversight' than the Republican's and this is the same with gun control as well:

However, in my experience most Demo's are still cowards when it comes to actually "gun control" or less usage of guns in society:

"Legal scholars point out that the 2nd isn't absolute. Thusgun control measures would not always violate it." ("The Words to Live By: your guide to the Constitution", Monk, '03)

After another mass shooting somewhere people react:

"The seeds of the lock-and-load society created by the NRA and nurtured by the Republicans are bearing fruit." Frank Ferrone, letter to editor (LA Times, June 19, 15)

"Most Democrat's cower before the gun lobby... To the NRA it's always 'High Noon.'("Shooting Straight")

Obama:

"We have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets and crack down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children and the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people’s traditions". (2008 Politicopre-Potomac Primary interview, Feb. 11, 2008)

Demo's Wish List:

1). Strengthening the background check system through fingerprinting

2). Reinstating the "assault weapons"(semi-auto) ban from 2004

3). Closing the gun show "loophole" so that guns do not fall into the hands of the irresponsible, law-breaking few. (Democratic Party Platform, Sept 12, 2012)

4). Mandatory child safety locks

5). Require a photo license I.D., a background check, and agun safety test to buy a new handgun. We support more federal gun prosecutors.

6). Large capacity magazine restrictions. (memo by Greg Ridgeway, Phd, Dep. Director National Institute of Justice,Jan. 4, '13)

7). National gun registry. (Justice Dept/ ATF memo/summaryfrom Dr. Ridgeway)

8). Criminalizing 'straw' purchases including buys from friends/relatives.

9). Gun trafficking. (Senator's Grassley-Cruz bill, April,2012)

Democrats: Still not enough support for more gun legislation...

The tragedy hasn't changed the political reality in Congress where any legislation affecting gun owner's right doesn't have the support to pass. "We don't have the votes," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said when asked if the shootings at the Navy Yard could support tougher background checks and making it harder for people with mental illness to buy guns.The Senate tried and failed to pass stronger gun legislation earlier this year in response the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre. In Congress, Demo's acknowledged that the political risks for taking such votesare high and help explain the reluctance among lawmakers tosupport tougher gun laws. Yet that is delusional since the public still wants more oversight...

The Courts--not ethical

"Without a Supreme Court willing to come out from under theumbrella of legal gymnastics and demand enforcement of lawsprotecting citizen's rights even constitutional amendments are hollow. ("Inherently Unequal: the betrayal of equal rights by the Supreme Court 1865-1903", Goldstone, 2011)

"Due process [the courtroom] has had a checkered history.("Citizens Constitution", Lipsky, '11)

This may seem odd and contradictory but our civil court system--from county to state to federal to the Supreme Court--is not ethical! Rather they are judgmental. For example, the courts listen to both sides of an argument then enter a judgment according to whatever their

interpretation of the laws is. Ethics are not part of the equation, including the laws themselves which may or may not be ethical:

"Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them." Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (sourced from, "Unfair: new science of criminal justice", Benfornado, '15)

My point is because our Bill of Rights is so vague and antiquated concerning the publics right to safety that the courts quite often don't look into the historical reasons of what was written and why. The Supreme Court, like in Heller or McDonald, take the 2nd Amendment literally, overturn the public's vote and the public loses! Seventy years ago, FDR bitched about the very same thing on public radio.

Local police

"When it comes to fighting crime cops are reactive--not proactive. They would rather chase the criminals. They are not interested in reducing crime. If that happens then it'sby-product.("Arrest-proof Yourself")

One would think since they see the brutality of guns close up away from TV reporters and cameras cops would be againstall guns and gun violence but that's hardly the case. From what I've noticed over the decades is most cops are amoral when it comes to siding with ordinary American's over any sort of gun control or background checks even on

Capitol Hill. Think of when was the last time you've watched a 'cops against guns' on a newscast outside of hugeproblem areas like Chicago or New York? The obvious reason is they like the paramilitary excitement of chasing criminals.

Criminals

"Where do criminals get their illegal guns? About 80% get them from friends, family or buy them on the street. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, DOJ, "Firearm use by offenders". Nov. 2001), (Ludwig and Cook, ATF study, 2000)

"While arrests and conviction rates, prison and the death penalty all reduce murders, generally they have no significant effect on public shootings... In the deranged minds of the attacker their goal is to kill and injure as many as possible. ATF study ("More Guns, Less Crime: understanding the crime & gun control laws", Lott, 1982/2013)

Oddly lost in all the hoopla over the modern meaning of the2nd Amendment are the scum balls, retards, psycho's, druggies, sociopaths and lowlife's who take the law into their own hands and making up their own rules as they go along. I've been around them and they are definitely peoplefrom another planet! First off, they're pretty dumb and have little interest in planning ahead or education. They like living day to day and watching stupid daytime TV shows. Naturally where they live also plays a large part:

"Criminal offenders have an average IQ of about 92, or 8 points below average. And more serious and chronic offenders have even lower scores than that."

("Crime and Human Nature", study by Wilson/Herrstein, 1985), see also, "The Bell Curve", 1994

"We hypothesize that men murder by their way of thinking. They prefer fantasy over reality. Their themes are dominance, revenge, violence, power, control, torture, mutilation, inflicting pain and death. These fantasies eventually move into action. ("Profiler's: inside the criminal mind", edited by Campbell/DeNevi, Phd's, 2004)

These books clarify a look at the mentality of about 1 out of every 100 people in America and a reason why shootings get more and more brazen and bizarre every passing year. This is another reason why cops are on edge and military-like in nearly every state, and treating nearly everyone else like criminals:

"A detailed and lengthy examination of the mind of a criminal will reveal no matter how bizarre or repugnant thecrime he is rational, calculating and deliberate in his actions--not mentally ill. If a youth wants to get a firearm, he figures out how to get it. The central issue isn't our gun laws; it's all about the mentality of that person.” Athens, PhD

(sourced from "Inside the Criminal Mind" and "The Creation of Dangerous Violent Criminals", Athens, 1992)

"Unyielding, uncompromising and unforgiving. His attitude is 'I'm going to hold my ground if it costs me everything even if I kill someone'... Imprisonment does not alter a criminal's basic personality." ("Creation of Dangerous Violent Criminals"), see also "Inside the Criminal Mind"

Who we might consider 'normal' and peaceful can later turn irrational--especially if there's a gun around:

"The belligerency stage of violentization ends with the subject firmly resolving to resort to violence in his future relations with people."

("Creation of Dangerous Violent Criminals")

"One guy who shot his victim during a robbery on the streetsaid, 'It wasn't my fault that the guy was crazy enough to risk his life over $50!' Remorse for the victim, is existent, is short-lived. ("Inside the Criminal Mind", Samenow, PhD)

'Three People Killed During Shooting at Spa Outside Of Milwaukee'

'Brookfield Chief of Police Daniel Tushaus (L) speaks to the media where three people were killed and four others wounded after a mass shooting in Brookfield, Wis.' (NY Times, Oct. 22, '12)

Imagine going to the hairdresser's for an appointment to make yourself prettier and instead leave in a body bag compliments of our "freedom" of America's 2nd Amendment?:

Scott Dekraai, 41, apparently enraged over a custody dispute, allegedly walks into a crowded Seal Beach hair salon where his former wife works and opens fire. Eight

people are killed including a man sitting in a truck outside the salon. The other customers shot were called "collateral damage'" by the killer.(LA Times, June 18, '15)

Teen homicides/ Juvenile Shootings

In 2010, firearms were the instrument of death in 85% of teen homicides and 40% of teen suicides.

(Case study/"A Deadly Partnership: lethal violence in an Arkansas Middle School", Dr.'s Fox/Roth/Newman, '03)

Maybe because I live in the suburbs I find most teens polite and respectful to adults. They even call me 'sir'. But in the cities that may be another story. It's not too hard to figure out where kids get their guns from: at home,relatives or burglaries. Couple that with imagery from today's TV/movies/video games/Internet and the mix can be "very un-family" oriented. For example, in 2009 there were at least 730,000 gang members in the U.S. and almost half of them juveniles:("Far from the Tree: parents, children and the search for identity", Solomon, '12, pg. 571)

"In a sweeping survey of over 2 million American teens, onein four (25%) had used, carried or taken part of an episodeinvolving a gun or a knife in the past year... Three million are taken into custody every year. And despite boundless love and support, some people are geared toward violence and destruction... Kids who commit crimes act on impulses in part because they are kids."("Far from the Tree", pg. 543+)

In my past, I've volunteered with delinquents. Some were good, some were unapologetic. That really depends on the area and their culture. Quite often the criminal justice system makes things worse by over punishment but why help them out with easy guns?:

"Juvenile justice systems have become colleges of criminality. More than 80% of those incarcerated under age 18 will be arrested again within 3 years."Joseph Califano, Columbia U.

(Nat'l Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse, sourced from "Far from the Tree", pg. 538+)

"Many juvenile criminals can't be turned around; the idea of near-universal rehabilitation is a liberal fantasy."("Far from the Tree", pg. 538)'Police: Maryland mall shooter was obsessed with Columbine'

Aguilar fatally shot Brianna Benlolo, 21, and Tyler Johnson, 25, and injured a third person before turning the gun on himself.  "I had to do this." the killer noted.(CNN, March 12, 2014)

Domestic violence

One famous murder/suicide was SNL's Phil Hartman who was killed by his wife. They had naively kept the gun for "protection". Now they're both non-existent:

"Most murders in the home are by family members or acquaintances, not an intruder. Harvard criminologist David Hemenway, (sourced from "Shooting Straight..."), ( "The Last Gun")

Many men 'poo-poo' domestic violence as an ordinary and inevitable cost of being married or in a serious relationship with an intimate partner. But just over half (50%) of all murders are domestic. With six kids my parentsalso fought and argued a lot. Fortunately for them (and us)they hated guns which probably saved us all. Some stats:

("Behind the Bloodshed", USA Today, June 15, 2015

"Intimate partner homicides account for nearly half the women killed every year, according to federal statistics. (NY Times, March 17, '13)

"Abusers who have access to a gun are more than seven timesmore likely to kill their partners. By some estimations, the presence of a gun in domestic violence situations —no matter who technically owns it —increases the risk of homicide by 500%. Annals of Emergency Medicine (Annals #41, 2003), (NY Times, March 17, '13)

"A very large number of murders arise from unintentional fits of rage that are quickly regretted and simply keeping guns out of people's reach would prevent that. ("Criminal Violence: the role of firearms in violent crime")

Another example:

Victim was ‘sweet, quiet’(Suffolk News Herald, November 9, 2011)

Deborah Wigg had requested a protective order against her husband, Robert Wigg, who had assaulted her. He owned a pistol. Later, Ms. Wigg and her co-workers at an accountingfirm openly fretted about the weapon.She agreed that every morning she would call a partner at her firm so he could make sure she was safe. Months later on Nov. 8, 2011 at 11 p.m., Wigg, 43, showed up at his wife’s home, began ringing the doorbell and pounding on thedoor. Ms. Wigg called her parents. Her mother told her to hang up and call 911. But as her mother and husband were heading over, Wigg smashed through the door and into the house.

Her parents arrived to find a neighbor bent over their daughter’s bleeding form, screaming, “Debbie, don’t leave me! When we got to her, those beautiful blue eyes were already set,” her mother said. Ms. Wigg died of a single shot to the head.

After shooting his wife, Wigg drove to the Browns’ apparently to kill them as well. Instead he killed himself in their front yard.

“It astounds me,” the father-in-law said. “I cannot believewe have a society where a person has physically abused another person and been charged with assaulting her and that they don’t automatically take away his weapon.” (NY Times, March 17, '13)

Another more recent example:

'Off-Duty Cop Shoots Ex-Wife Dead After Car Chase'

An off-duty police sergeant shot and killed his ex-wife in New Jersey as she drove with her 7 yr. old daughter inside.The sergeant fired 7 shots through the car windshield.

(Reuters, June 16, 2015)

I ask again, is this what the Founder's had in mind when they inserted the 2nd Amendment into the Bill of Rights? Why do we want or need to support this law as it's written?

A domestic system that's working

"Guns and domestic violence are a lethal combination. We need to close this gaping loophole in the law." Senator Blumenthal, (D-Conn.)

In the mid-1990s, Wisconsin became one of the first states to require the surrender of firearms with full protective orders. (NY Times, March 17, '13)

Another state with strict laws in this arena is California where anyone served with a temporary protective order has 24 hours to turn over any weapons to local law enforcement or sell them to a licensed gun dealer. Enforcement, however, has been inconsistent. So in 2006, the state set up pilot programs to increase enforcement in San Mateo

County, a mostly white-collar community, just outside San Francisco. The programs’ money dried up in 2010 with the state’s fiscal woes but it sought other financing because it believed that its program was saving lives:

“We have not had a firearm-related domestic violence homicide in the last 3 years,” said Sgt. Linda Gibbons, whooversees the program as the head of the major crimes unit in the county sheriff’s office. Last year alone the programtook in 324 firearms through seizure or surrender from 81 people out of more than 800 protective orders it reviewed.

Every morning Detective John Kovach, who handles a range ofdomestic violence investigations, reviews a stack of protective orders filed the day before — generally 15 to 20a day — looking for any mention of firearms. Usually a handful of orders a day will contain some reference to gunswhich Detective Kovach follows up on. Sometimes he contactsthe person protected by the order to find out more. He alsochecks various law enforcement databases, including one available in California that tracks handgun purchases.He goes out once or twice a week and serves the restrainingorders himself. Usually, he says, he tries to collect firearms immediately, employing a well-honed sales pitch about helping the person comply with the law.If he believes beforehand that the person might not be cooperative he will sometimes request a search warrant.

“My experience is the quicker you act the more successful you’re going to be,” he said. “Every murder, when you look at it, there are always points where law enforcement could have made a difference,” the detective said. “I don’t ever

want to be that guy who goes to sleep knowing he hasn’t done everything to protect the public.”

As a caring cop, Kovach may be 1 in a 100...

Road rage

"Criminals expect others to behave as they want them to behave. Since many times each day this doesn't happen they are perpetually angry. When a tiny pin punctures the balloon the entire balloon bursts."("Inside the Criminal Mind", pg. 159)

How often have we seen this in our era of a billion cars? The reason I bring up road rage incidents is:

1). It can happen almost anywhere and at anytime to anyone day or night.

2). Death and injury by a gun in road rage incidents are surprisingly common.

3). Guys bring handguns with them for their "protection" but just end up shooting at other motorists out of frustration and anger.

I've been involved in a few altercations myself... Fortunately these guys weren't armed but if they were I'd be in real trouble. One incident happened when I was looking for an address one afternoon. I'm in the right turnlane and notice where I want to go so I pull out into the green light traffic. Well down the block this guy comes up behind me, furiously honking his horn, rolls down his window and starts screaming at me to pull over. I'm pissed at this guy and I'm thinking, 'what the fuck does this guy want?'

I stop and he quickly walks up to my open window yelling tome that 'I can't go straight in a right turn lane in his neighborhood!' Then he grabs the partially open window and shakes it back and forth so hard the window shatters in pieces. Then he walks off. If he had a gun I'd have 6 holesin my shirt...

Here's a couple recent stories with a much worse ending:

'Vegas Mother Hunted Road Rage Driver before Fatal Shooting' (Gawker.com, Feb. 18, '15)

Tammy Meyers

In a nutshell, the killer followed Meyers back to her houseand shot her dead in the front yard. Nice guy...

'Victim shares emotional story following road rage shootingin Texas'

A woman survived a gunshot to the head in a road rage shooting. According to this report, a black woman just honked her horn at this psycho who tried to kill her... (KTRK, Houston 3, July 17, 2015)

'Road Rage Leads to Shooting Death, Suicide'(ABC News, June 19, 2015)

'Father of four killed in road rage shooting'(USA Today, April 1, 2015)

'Driver shot, wounded in road rage incident' (NBCSanDiego.com, June 16, 2015)

Gun Violence--the real cost: $100 billion a year

That is the annual cost of gun violence in America according to the authors of this landmark study. So is our gun violence a perverse "good for business" model we want to witness on the news everyday for hospitals, doctors, nurses, physical therapists and gun makers? (Philip Cook ITT/Sanford Professor of Public Policy Duke University, Jens Ludwig, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Sept. 30, 2000 )

Accidental shootings

"The gun lobby doesn't let the lives of its children get inits way of any law restricting access to guns..." ("The Last Gun")

Accidental shootings are not accidents. Someone was at fault, as the gun was out in the open or unlocked by a parent. If I'm a drunk driver and hit and kill someone do Iclaim it was an accident? Not in a court of law. I am culpable and I'm going to get 5-10 years in prison:

'Charges Possible in Death of Kentucky 2-Year Old Shot by Brother'

The heartbreaking death of a 2-year-old Kentucky girl who was shot and killed Tuesday by her 5-year-old brother with a rifle he had been given as a gift might lead to criminal charges. (NPR, May 02, 2013)

Dr. Denise Dowd, an emergency room pediatrician at Children's Mercy Hospitals in Kansas City who co-wrote the American Academy of Pediatricians policy on children and

guns, said she was 'blown away' that anyone would give a rifle to a 5-year-old. 'We don't give our kids the keys to our car and there is a good reason for it,' she said.But the newspaper writes, "community and business leaders in Burkesville said they strongly support the couple and saw nothing unusual about giving a rifle to such a young child. 'Learning how to use a gun at a young age has been common for generations in rural Kentucky,' said County Judge-Executive John A. Phelps Jr. He said it was a 'mistake' to let the boy have access to the rifle, 'but it was an accident.':

“Handguns account for the majority of childhood gunshot wounds and this number appears to be increasing over the last decade,” said lead study author Arin Madenci, MD. “Furthermore, states with higher percentages of household firearm ownership also tended to have higher proportions ofchildhood gunshot wounds, especially those in the home.” American Academy of Pediatrics

("Prevalence of Household Gun Ownership Linked to Child Gun Shot Wounds", American Academy of Pediatrics, 10/27/2013)

'Police: 4-year-old boy shoots and kills toddler brother using father's gun.'

According to investigators, the two brothers were playing with the handgun found in a bedroom at their Minneapolis townhouse when the 4-year-old shot his younger brother. Thetoddler died in the ambulance, officers said. (WTCI12.com, Dec. 6, 2012, Minneapolis, MN)

Yahoo comments:

kleng

"Parents should be held liable about this. GUNS are meant to be kept in a safe place where children can't reach them!My God! What is wrong with you parents?"

pepper1311

"We are farmers and have guns. We also have a gun safe, thesafe cost $1100.00 less then a top of line shot gun. If youfear home invasions , lights, locks, windows upgrades, are cheaper then loosing a child or anyone else. Lock the fu@@king things up."

Firearm suicides

"The combination of suicide and homicidal impulses is particularly dangerous because it is hard to prevent murderwhen killers don't care if they live or die.” ("Why kids kill: inside the mind of school shooters", Langman, Phd, '09)

Some say if people want to kill themselves that's their choice. That maybe true but having a firearm lying around makes the process a lot easier. Personally I knew someone who got depressed over lousy winter weather and shot himself in the shower with his handgun. Suicides can be very impulsive and someone otherwise just having a 'bad day' might just pull the trigger for the last time:

Number of deaths: 19,392, (2010) (stats: CDC, 2012)

"In 2005, an average of 46 Americans per day committed suicide with a firearm. And 80% of all suicide attempts are impulsive. Among people who made suicide attempts 25% took less than 5 minutes between the decision to kill themselves and 70% took less than 1 hour.Matthew Miller, M.D., Sc.D., and David Hemenway, Phd(sourced from "Shooting Straight")

When I was 19 and very stupid I tried to kill myself too...I wanted to die but I remember thinking that a gun would betoo bloody and others would have to clean up the mess. 'I'mtoo nice for that' I remember thinking... So I decided on anice, clean overdose and ended up in the hospital passed out for 3 days... My point is suicidal people can always

find a way somehow but a having a gun lying around "for protection" often ends the person's life a lot sooner than they might have planned. And in hindsight I'm always thankful to God that I didn't die. I couldn't have imaginedhow my family would have felt...

Police Not Against Guns

"They're always looking over their shoulder, always worrying about the next attack that could come at anytime from any direction.” Craig Floyd, president of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. ('Number Of Police Officers Killed By Firearms Rose In 2016, Study Finds”, NPR, Dec. 30, 2016)

As we know the USA is unjustifiably armed to the teeth; andalot of guys just don't like cops so they shoot them or shoot at them for the dumbest of reasons. In fact, in 2016 about 57,000 overall were assaulted. (www.fbi.gov) For instance, on Youtube there are hundred's of video's of stupid American's shooting at approaching cops. Some shoot the cop when he standing outside the window asking for a driver's license. Other's get shot when they're being patted down for weapons. Yet throughout this danger cops are still not against guns:

“Gun control is NOT the answer to preventing heinous crimeslike school shootings. Any actions against or in disregard for our U.S. Constitution and 2nd Amendment rights by the current administration would be irresponsible and an indisputable insult to the American people.” Oregon sheriffHanlin

("Sheriff leading Umpqua Community College mass shooting response wrote anti-gun control letter after Sandy Hook", Yahoo News, Oct. 1, '15)

In another example, in Colorado when some Demo's tried to toughen background checks and limit the size of gun clips their Sheriff's joined in a lawsuit against them claiming it was "unworkable and unconstitutional":(Coloradoguncase.org)

"80% of police say that expanding background checks would not decrease crime.

("Gun Policy & Law Enforcement: survey, PoliceOne poll of 15,000 officers, March 13, 2013)

Wrongful death

The federal government and nearly every state have passed tort (civil) claims acts allowing them to be sued for the negligence but not intentional wrong. Knox Law Center

Wrongful death claim exists when a person dies due to the legal fault of another person who can be held liable. A wrongful death action is separate from criminal charges. A dead person cannot bring a suit so this created a loophole so which the claim is brought under a civil action, usuallyby close relatives. However, most people using guns aren't exactly rich so the eventual judgment wouldn't be great even if the judge ruled against the defendant. The killer'shome owner's policy, I'm assuming, may or may not hold up under a civil suit. Under our state’s laws,a person harmed as a result of the negligence of another can sue for recovery of damages if the wrongdoer refuses to compensate the injured person.

Here's a tragic instance where the federal government was successfully sued:

Modesto, Calif.

'A federal DEA/SWAT team invaded a house and killed an 11 year old boy with a shotgun during a failed raid. There were no drugs or guns in the home. Both the city and the federal government settled a later lawsuit brought on by the Sepulveda's for the death of their son for $3,000,000.'

("Rise of the Warrior Cop: the militarization of America's Police Forces", Balko, '13)

When negligence is the result of State action different rules apply to a civil claim for damages. A civil claim against the State to recover for damages generally must be made under the State Tort claims Act. To many families, a wrongful death by gun is devastating even years later. In the article below the victim was unarmed. Apparently this was a case of mistaken identity but the pain hasn't subsided even 10 yrs. later:

'Justin Hertl's Family Still Seeks Answers a Decade after Fatal Shooting by Anaheim Police'(Orange County Weekly, blog, Nov. 18, 2013)

Justin Hertl

Government agencies can be sued (Dept. of Transportation, Dept. of Commerce, schools, etc.) but the People cannot suethe federal government per se for wrongful death or injury.(www.nolo.com)

Wrongful Injury

gunshot victim in L.A.

When the accident was the fault of someone else, the injured party may be entitled to monetary compensation fromthe person whose negligent conduct caused the injury. Medical expenses including hospital expenses and therapy may be recovered. The amount of compensation is largely based on the severity of the victim's injuries. The severity of loss is measured by the amount of medical bills, the type of injuries sustained, and the length of time for recovery. In addition, in cases of extreme negligence, punitive damages may be recovered to ensure that the conduct is not repeated in the future. Again, the way the laws are written seldom protects the average Joe... Melissa Neiman, M.D., J.D. (www.mneiman.com, EzineArticles.com)

Crime Victims Rights Act 2004

"The criminal's anger stems from the fear of not being in total control; that things will not go his way... The notion that criminals should learn to manage their anger through court-ordered 'anger management' classes in tantamount to trying to catch a tidal wave with a bucket.

("Inside the Criminal Mind")

This extremely weak legislation was enacted more over stalking than homicide but because the provisions are so weak and lame Congress should never have bothered to lift the pen in the first place--showing Congress's real fear ofthe gun lobby, or just how stupid they really are. If you're a gun victim this Act would not cover your butt:

1. The right to be reasonably protected from the accused

2. A notice of any court proceeding

6. The right to timely restitution

8. The right to be treated with fairness and respect

OMFG!

Sovereign Immunity

"We have gone astray in our constitutional understanding. Lawyers, judges, political leaders and commentators largelybelieve that the power of government, or of the democratic majority, is primary. That the freedom of the individual isonly secondary."("Conscience of the Constitution", intro)

Elementary school civics classes taught most of us that government is given the “power of the sovereign” by “the people.” Just like a king or queen (a sovereign) enjoyed immunity from prosecution or suit in times past, our federal, state and local governments enjoy a fairly robust

degree of immunity from being sued by citizens. The obviousdownside is the limitation on a citizen’s right to sue whenhe or she is harmed. But because of the way laws are written this is not good news for many gun victims when applying negligence to states.

Civil rights

Civil right's involves the rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by legislation and by the Constitution. (Knox Law Center)

We all have civil rights but as I've pointed out earlier unfortunately our justice system tries its best to break them rather than protect them. Sometimes, but standing before a judge and often at a huge cost to ourselves, are our civil rights "redeemed" depending on 'yeh' or 'nay' of the courts verdict. As I've mentioned, Travon Martin's civil rights were broken but he's dead and buried and can'tcall in a grand jury--so what can "civil rights" matter in his case?

In this Supreme Court example the People are able to sue the government for infringement on any rights, not just gunviolations. Although I'm certainly not a fan of the hatefulTaliban here is one recent example:

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld 2004

Background:

In 2001, the Defendant Yaser Hamdi was arrested in Afghanistan in the midst of the military operations

undertaken by the United States in that region. Although Hamdi was a citizen of the United States, he was apprehended while fighting alongside the Taliban, although he denied he was fighting. Upon his apprehension, Hamdi wasextradited to the United States and detained at a military prison within the State of Virginia. Within his apprehension, Hamdi claimed that he was denied legal counsel; Hamdi also claimed that he was being unlawfully detained and accused the Federal Government of violating his 8th Amendment Rights, which entitle American Citizens to due process; this not only requires a fair hearing to take place – in addition to the provision of legal counsel - but also provides protection against unlawful detainment.Later the case went to the Supreme Court.

Verdict:

The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Rehnquist ruled in favor of Hamdi stating that his arrest had violated the DueProcess Clause outlined within the Constitution; this clause is defined as the government’s obligation to respectand uphold the legal rights of its citizen in the event of an arrest; the government must retain an individual’s humanrights and liberties – this includes fair, respectful, and ethical treatment devoid of undue violence and harm. The ruling stated that Hamdi would be entitled to a fair trial in accordance with the 8th Amendment. (Laws.com), (U.S. Supreme Court Case Number: 542 U.S. 5, 2004)

More importantly, in the same manner it is the government'sobligation to uphold our legal 5th and 14th Amendment rights in the case of an injury by firearm.

Section 1983

This U.S. Code is part of the Civil Rights Acts of 1871. This section of Title 42 (early 2000's) is the primary means of enforcing all constitutional rights:

"Every citizen regarding the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws shall be liable."

The Supreme Court has began accepting an expansive definition of rights, privileges, or immunities. The formerstatute permits federal district courts to hear cases involving the deprivation of civil rights violating someone's federal rights.Federal courts are authorized to hear cases brought under section 1983 pursuant to two statutory provisions: 28 U.S.C.A. § 1343(3) (1948) and 28 U.S.C.A. § 1331 (1948). The former statute permits federal district courts to hear cases involving the deprivation of civil rights, and the latter statute permits federal courts to hear all cases involving a federal question or issue.

United States v. Winsor

Another recent landmark Supreme Court civil rights case overturned the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) by giving a tax refund to the surviving gay woman. Personally I'm all for the DOMA but here the Court felt it was unconstitutional, "as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment."

My point here is the Court can overturn prior Acts of Congress. But each state can also ignore the Supreme Court as Texas is currently doing now over its gay marriage licenses... (12-307, 570 U.S., 2013)

Hate crimes

To me the term "hate crime" is idiotic because what criminal commits a crime in love? Most serious crimes--burglary, assault, murder or attempted murder--are all crimes of hate. In this sense hate crimes are usually crimes of bias or prejudice directed at the victim(s). Theyare not common but here is one example:

"The prosecution proves that Damian, a white ex-con, fired several shots from a gun through the window of a neighbor'shome that is owned by a black family. He wanted to intimidate the owners into selling their home and moving out of the neighborhood. Damian may be convicted of a hatecrime because he attempted to interfere with a Black American's right to own a home. Apprendi v. New Jersy

(Apprendi vs. New Jersey, US Supreme Ct., 2000)

Mentally Ill

"The major gun problem: mental illness, violent video game addiction, childhood isolation [latchkey kids] and parentaldenial." Dr. Earl Biren, trauma surgeon in South CentralL.A. (sourced from "Shooting Straight...")

Thankfully most individuals with psychiatric disorders are not violent. About half (50%) the homeless have been calledmentally ill. Personally, I would put the number higher than that. Regardless, psychiatry is a relatively new fieldand despite its pedigree is not a science since people's mindsets and thoughts cannot be accurately diagnosed ratherjust guessed at. Anybody can change their mind about one thing or another.

(Harvard Mental Health Letter, Jan. '11), (Risk assessment:the MacArthur Study of Mental Disorder and Violence. Oxford, 2001), (World Psychiatry, June; 2, '03)

Assault weapons

"Unfortunately, the NRA has been working for years to make sure lunatics and felons can obtain guns as easily as possible."(Newsweek, "Bullet Initiative", Eichenwald, 7/24/15)

When the 2nd Amendment was written the Colonists used muzzle-loaders which could shoot off maybe two rounds a minute. In that War that seemed fair enough. Automatic gunswere outlawed in 1986 but the military-style assault weapons now can still fire 120+ rounds a minute even in semi-auto mode and still under our archaic gun laws...

To the uninitiated their popularity is puzzling but if you browse through a Barnes and Noble and checkout the gun magazine section over half of them are on assault weapons! In one store I counted almost 20 gun magazines alone! If that's a childhood obsession so be it but the local cops don't like the parity much:

"Unfortunately the police are finding themselves increasingly in the sights of military-style guns wielded by criminals, the unstable and radical extremists... After one 3 hour shootout inside a house in Pittsburgh where three cops were killed one cop lamented, 'We were totally outgunned, pistols against assault rifles'".Sargeant James Kohnen (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 25, '11)

Concealed weapons/defensive uses

There are about 2,000,000 concealed weapon permits in the U.S. and the vast majority of defensive gun uses do not

involve killing or wounding an attacker. Defensive stats ongun use vary wildly from 55,000 a year to over 1 million.

The biggest (and dumbest) argument of gun-rights groups andthe Right now is 'arm everybody' that way you can defend yourself against an attacker. 'Put guns back in schools, inthe principles office, the secretary's and the nurses. Giveyour grandmother a gun for Xmas so she can fight off the bad guy...' Well if that would happen then there would be more shootings over trivial matters as the person with the gun would be the only one in charge of the situation. The control freaks would have a field day by thinking: 'Do whatI say or I'll shoot you!'

"Firearms are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes." Violence Policy Center, 2013

("The Last Gun"), FBI.gov/Uniform Crime Reporting, ("Firearm Justifiable Homicides and Non-Fatal Self-Defense Gun Use), (Legallyarmed.com), (Geller/Hemenway, "Last Chance for Justice: a jurors lonely quest", 1997), ("More Guns, Less Crime: understanding the crime & gun control laws", Lott)

Media coverage on defensive uses of guns are rare as I seldom hear of any 'hero incidents' other than victim's getting shot by a spouse, carjacker or stupid random shootings. But lately concealed gun permits are getting more and more popular--despite the reasons for carrying a gun that are mythical in the first place. And while we often hear the NRA and other pro-gun group's giving pep talks of how to be a overpowering 'Clint Eastwood type' thereality can be far different. Here are some examples:

'Colorado: Shootings May Be Linked'

"A series of mysterious shootings of people in suburbs in northern Colorado has prompted an investigation by the FBI.The first shooting happened when Cori Romero, 20 was driving home after working a late shift; she was shot in the neck...Another death was a 65 yr. old man found bleeding on a sidewalk. There was a third victim who also died.'(NY Times, June 5, 2015)

Florida-- 'Man throwing popcorn in theatre shot dead'

"A moviegoer texting with his daughter's day care center during the previews was shot by a retired Florida cop. Thevictim had tossed popcorn at the man telling him to mind his own business when the assailant pulled out a .380 pistol and shot him in the chest killing him. ("No Bail in texting shooting", USA Today, Jan. 15, 2014)

Alabama-- 'Man shot dead over fracas over repossessed car'

"Jimmy Tanks, a 67 year old retiree, heard noises outside his trailer park home and grabbed his gun. The noise was the tow truck driver legally repossessing his car. Shots were fired and Tanks was killed. (AP, June 27, '08)

Like the tragic Zimmerman scenario, I believe that a weaponpermit gives owners the option of life and death over others, in effect playing God but with a gun:

"Gun ownership has been found to increase the risk of suicide and homicide which could cancel or outweigh the beneficial effects of defensive gun use." Dr's Jongyeon Tark/Gary Kleck

(Criminology, vol. 42, "Resisting Crime: the effects of victim actions on the outcomes of crimes", Dr's Jongyeon Tark/Gary Kleck, Mar. 7, 2006)

"Stand Your Ground" Laws

These 'Zimmerman laws' started in Florida and have now expanded to 21 other states:

"Stand Your Ground states give shooters the right to use deadly force even when there is a safe opportunity to retreat. An additional three states expand the 'Castle Doctrine' only to the shooter’s vehicle allowing a driver to shoot someone when threatened in his or her car instead of simply driving away...

A narrow exception to this rule, the Castle Doctrine, has existed for centuries. This principle holds that a person has no duty to retreat before using deadly force if the conflict takes place in his or her own home — the castle.

(Smiley v. State, 966 , 330, 333 (Fla. 2007), ("Stand Your Ground Laws and their effect on the criminal justice system", National Urban League), (Missouri: 2007 Mo. SB 62;Ohio: 2007 Ohio SB 184; Wisconsin: 2011 Wis. ALS 94)

At least nine 'Stand Your Ground' states have statutes thatallow a shooter to kill a person to defend property. With

the twisted-thinking in the courts today this means that someone's car would be "property" in a road-rage incident. Where an owner, feeling threatened in an accident, can legally pull out a gun and shoot someone just walking towards them trying to exchange info! Unfortunately this happens all the time in America the "land of the free" (or "land of the dead"--take your pick): (Texas: Tex. Penal Code § 9.42(2)

"In states that passed these laws in 2005-07, the justifiable homicide rate was on average 53% higher in the years after passage of the law than in the years preceding it. (Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reports, Homicide File, 05-07)

"Justifiable homicides have tripled in Florida since the new law was passed."(Washington Post, April 8, '12)

Defensive Gun Use Facts:

As mentioned earlier, and contrary to the NRA propaganda, very few criminals are shot by decent law abiding citizens:

"Using data from surveys of detainees in six jails from around the nation, Harvard University worked with a prison physician to determine whether criminals seek hospital medical care when they are shot. Criminals almost always goto the hospital when they are shot. To believe fully the claims of millions of self-defense uses each year would mean believing that decent law-abiding citizens shot 100's of thousands of criminals. But the data from emergency departments belie this claim-- unless 100's of thousands of

wounded criminals are afraid to seek medical care. But virtually all criminals who have been shot went to the hospital and can describe in detail what happened there. Journal of Trauma, 2000

(John May, David Hemenway, David Oen, Roger Pitts, Khalid R., Medical Care Solicitation by Criminals with Gunshot Wound Injuries: A Survey of Washington DC Jail Detainees. Journal of Trauma. 2000), (May/Hemenway, "Do Criminals Go to the Hospital When They are Shot?" Injury Prevention 2002. Harvard Injury Control Research Center, 2013)

Criminals who are shot are typically the victims of the crime:

"Using data from a survey of detainees in a Washington D.C.jail, Harvard worked with a prison physician to investigatethe circumstances of gunshot wounds to these criminals. We found that one in four of these detainees had been wounded in events that appear unrelated to their incarceration. Most were shot when they were victims of robberies, assaults and cross-fires. Virtually none report being wounded by a 'law-abiding citizen.' Medscape General Medicine

(May/Hemenway/Oen/Pitts/Khalid, "When criminals are shot: Asurvey of Washington DC jail detainees"), (Medscape GeneralMedicine, 2000; June 28, www.medscape.com)

And adolescents are far more likely to be threatened with agun than to use one in self-defense:

"Harvard analyzed data from a telephone survey of 5,800 California adolescents aged 12-17 which asked questions about gun threats against and self-defense gun use by theseyoung people. We found that these young people were farmore likely to be threatened with a gun than to use a gun in self-defense and most of the reported self-defense gun uses were hostile interactions between armed adolescents. (Social Science and Medicine, 2000)

(Publication: Azrael/Hemenway, "In the safety of your own home: Results from a national survey of gun use at home", Social Science & Medicine)

"Guns in the home are used more often to intimidate intimates than to thwart crime... Using data from a national random-digit-dial telephone survey conducted underthe direction of the Harvard Injury Control Research Centerwe investigated how and when guns are used in the home. We found that guns in the home are used more often to frightenintimates than to thwart crime; other weapons [knives] are far more commonly used against intruders than are guns. (Social Science and Medicine, 2000)

Gun Free Zones

Many schools now have signs outside reading "Gun-Free Zone"which means concealed weapons aren't allowed outside. But this is an open invitation to maniacs with guns that they have about 5-30 minutes to kill before the cops get there:

'Nevada student, 12, shoots teacher dead; wounds two beforekilling self'

"A 12-year-old student armed with a handgun shot and killeda popular math teacher and critically wounded two classmates before killing himself at his Nevada middle school on Monday shortly before classes were due to begin, police said. (Reuters, Oct, 21, 2013)

'10 Killed in Oregon community college shooting'

"It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun. It doesn't make sense. Prayers are not enough," he said. "We can actually do something about it but we're going to have to change our laws." President Obama

("Obama voices anger over Oregon shooting, urges gun control", AFP, 10-01-15)

Are the freedom of guns with very few restrictions the price for living in America now? Where school teachers are murdered in front of students in the class? These type of situations were unthinkable just 20 years ago.

Taking back the guns-- Chicago

In 2013, Chicago police have seized over 6,500 illegal gunsto bring down both its crime and murder rate but how they did it wasn't mentioned in the report. Obviously criminals aren't holding their guns out to the cops to take them. So this means the cops are going after them at the source--cars, houses and apartments. Civil libertarians and minorities might scream bloody murder but do they scream when illegal guns are taken off the street unable to do anymore harm?

"If you reduce weapons you will reduce crime." Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy (CBS News, Dec. 10, 2013)

Police are seizing 130 illegal guns a week CBS News

Guns overseas

"We don't understand America's need for guns," said Philip Alpers, director of the University of Sydney's

GunPolicy.org project "It is very puzzling for non-Americans."

("World Shocked at enduring racism, gun violence in U.S.", Bodeen, AP, June 19, 2015)

Homicides in Britain: 52 in a country of 63 million (2011).(Home Office.gov.uk)

The British stat means that U.S. gun violence is about 5000% higher annually than Britain's. Of course this also means that Britain is roughly 500 times more civilized thanAmerica is now. Are we proud of that?

Japan

In 2011, guns were used in only seven murders in Japan — a nation of about 130 million and 400,000 registered firearms. ("The Last Gun")In Japan gun ownership is tightly controlled. Applicants first must go to their local police station and declare their intent to buy a gun. After a lecture and a written test comes range training, then a background check. Police likely will even talk to the applicant's neighbors to see if he or she is known to have a temper, financial troubles or an unstable household. A doctor must sign a form saying the applicant has not been institutionalized and is not epileptic, depressed, schizophrenic, alcoholic or addicted to drugs. If the U.S. were to mandate these very tight controls it still wouldn't violate the 2nd Amendment per se(of course the Right would scream bloody murder).

13 common sense examples to slow gun violence

1). Overturn the 2nd Amendment

"The only way to stop the violence is to repeal the 2nd Amendment." Karl Rove (Fox News Sunday, 6/21/15)

Admittedly, this might be a long-shot but as an example whowould have thought in the 1970's that a lone woman from Texas could overturn a 50-state government ban on abortions? Well the Court did it for her...But what choice do we have? Just accept 70,000 gun deaths and injuries every year as part of living in the USA with its so-calledfreedom's?

2). Moratorium on manufacturing guns

I believe 270 million guns outstanding is enough. Why make it easy for criminals to purchase guns and reign havoc on civilized society like politicians and our courts are letting them do now?

3). Ban handguns

Handguns are used in about 85% of all gun crimes and banning them still wouldn't overturn the 2nd Amendment. Of course criminals could still use a knife or a club but it'smuch easier to run from those than a hail of bullets.

4). Free government trigger locks

I hate to point to the ambivalent government to fix our stupid problems but certain cases there's no one else to heed the call... The federal government has stepped in likeBig Brother over our safety issues (emissions, auto safety,seatbelts, roads, planes etc.) and here's where they can dothe same. This lock is about $10. The government could buy 10's of millions of them for maybe $2.00 apiece. National tragedies like Newtown would have been prevented had the very naive (and now dead) mother locked the guns up. Juvenile suicides would drop like the 2008 stock market...

5). State incentives for NICS compliance

The 50 states are pretty much autonomous and make up their own state constitution's as far as gun laws. And as mentioned, most states don't send their background checks to the fed's thus allowing 10's of millions of gun owners to slip through. Would the fed need to bribe states to comply? Knowing our government, I would imagine so!

6). National registry for all guns

This is self-explanatory and would trump the NICS since most states don't comply with its program anyway.

7). Gun tracing

The new gun is test-fired and the sample casings are kept on file. Also this is exactly what all police dept's do to

separate their bullets from others. In a lab each casing has its own DNA which is matched with the guns serial #. Incrime scene's casings are often found.

8). Longer waiting periods for gun buys

Like I've maintained, people that use guns on other people are angry. The Harvard medical study group recommended a 28-day waiting period for guns like in Canada.

9). Social Security number required on purchase

Even though it's not considered identification it's always used for tracking credit card #'s and credit reports which are often up to date within the past year. If just a driver's license is given with one address and no tickets on the license, then tracking a potential felon is almost impossible. Today, police track people now by their cell phone #'s and credit card usage which they could obtain through their social security number. Of course, both civillibertarians and the NRA will cry "Big Brother" again but tough luck, you can't have it both ways.

10). Ban handguns under 30

As society already knows many young people have poor judgment and do stupid things. Criminologists, cops and insurance companies know that already. Also, statistically most guys in prison are in their 20's. There are big reasons for that... Insurance rates for drivers also go down at 25+. This would be a 'safety net' that would save lives and injuries by handguns.

11). National fingerprinting

This would be NICS regulated in all 50 states and not just a few. As "Big Brother" as that sounds we are already 'nationally fingerprinted' by our social security #'s whichis far more intrusive--addresses, employment, credit files,and criminal history. But buying a gun can mean many things--are you using it for house "protection" or to take revenge on a girlfriend, spouse or employer? The governmenthas no way of knowing.

12). Local gun registration

This book gives many examples of the national DOJ gun-tracking system in complete chaos so this could shift the emphasis to local gun tracking. In the gun-crazed city of Oakland, Ca. is currently trying out a local gun tracking and registration. Advocates for the measure say that it would "provide important data to law enforcement" (who would allow the shootings to go on anyway).("Reeling city looks for an exemption", LA Times, Sept. 14,2013)

13). Mandatory 2-3 hour safety training course

No state allows a parent to hand their keys to their high schooler and says, "Here, have fun!" without a license to drive. Prior to getting a drivers license students need four months of Driver's Ed + a written DMV test + the driving test. This is to prevent injuries and deaths on theroad. Statistically guns are more dangerous than cars. How can we be so stupid and think guns should be any different?

These safety measures are paramount for us now and would tighten up the existing weaker laws that allow criminals ofall ages to shoot us with near impunity.

Can the courts change the 2nd Amendment?

"Dissent is a necessary ingredient of change." Richard Nixon, 1968

"The government, at all levels, has tremendous power to harmpeople. The Supreme Ct. is more likely to uphold abuses of federal power than stop it. While governments and the Court, state or federal, are above the law because they write the laws. They are beholden to no one... The Supreme Court has upheld past discrimination and egregious violations of basic liberties. It favors governmental powerover individual freedom... and is indifferent to American'ssuffering." UCI Law Professor Chemerinsky

("The Case Against the Supreme Court", Chemerinsky, J.D., '14, abuses of government power)

Through the eyes of the 14th Amendment we can see that Roe didn't happen overnight. But its Equal Protection Clause for all women in the 50 states gradually changed the abortion laws, many adopting reasoning that their own statelaws would be eventually trumped by a federal law. And no state wanted to go up against the 14th Amendment! Today the courts can do the same with the 2nd Amendment now! This same logic has been brought up very recently under gay marriages and that it's unconstitutional to deny them equal protection (whether they deserve it or not).

Our Civil Rights Still Vague

"Mr. President, the supreme value of civilization is the freedom of the individual. The right of the individual to be free from government tyranny." U.S. Senator Sam Ervin to Nixon("Just a Country Lawyer", Clancy, pg. 222)

Without trying to sound too much like a flaming liberal, I've spoken about how American civil rights have been oftenignored by those in authority--the police, courts and lawmakers. What I've tried to argue is the 2nd Amendment, as written, is a dinosaur. 'A questionable relic' as some friends attest. Its meaning is clear but the ramification of 200+ million guns in society is too much for its meager 15 words to handle. We see and read in the news everyday that the Amendment buckles under its own weight and all we can do is shake our heads and be glad we were lucky and weren't a victim of its violence somehow. Elsewhere, and presumably safe in government buildings with metal detectors, our politicians and the Right shrug and say, 'well, that's the 2nd Amendment. Nothing we can we do aboutit. Let's support it anyway...'

Conclusion

In his book, Justice Stevens said that both the courts and our society have "evolving standards of decency". Yet with millions and millions of free-floating guns around this decency concept is being steadily eroded. I pointed out earlier that gun violence in the 1800's was virtually nil yet few bitched about the 2nd Amendment or the Constitutionbeing voided. So what we've seen the past 20 years has been

mostly politics, grand-standing, ego and 'one-upmanship' ofwho is right about gun control. Meanwhile as they yack, tens of thousands of American citizen's, including babies and small children, lay wounded or dead in a casket to the detriment of our society each year. That fact alone should be unthinkable and change must come: "The public may be hypnotized by rose-colored fables of 'gun rights' and socially impaired by their lack of empathy. They believe that no sacrifice is too great for others to bear so that they can enjoy their deadly toys andpretended defense of liberty. ("The Last Gun")

The left, including Obama, would like to ban guns altogether. End of problem. And since there's already 270 million in America already what do we need more for? While the right maintains that would be unthinkable--an erosion of our "God given" constitutional right. Regardless, I believe that America has a serious illness regarding guns but one that only the courts can fix. I hope it's soon.