Citizens Prerogative

Episode discussion topics

• The second amendment: One highly charged sentence of 27 words.
  

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

• The original point of the amendment was about supporting a well-regulated militia, and for the people to bear arms for militia's sake.
• In the mindset of the times when it was written, our right to keep and bear arms was protected under the law so that the people were prepared for conscription.
• In Boston circa 1788, the militia was already called The National Guard. It had been established in 1636 for the protection of the colony and is now a fixture in all 50 states. You may find that they are generally well-regulated.
• The right for citizens to buy and hold weapons for private purposes, like self-defense, was read in by the courts and advanced through precedence after a series of decisions beginning in 2008 and onwards. Cornell Law School provides a nice synopsis of this evolution.
• The availability of military-grade weapons for private use would not have been in the state's interest. After all, the idea of mob rule was a constant concern and it was not common for farmers to own their own cannons. These arms were intended to be held for the militia, which was made up of the people to bear arms for militia's sake.
• At this moment in our history, circa 2022, the profit motive has been allowed to run rampant and the lobbies that stood to profit have done so.
  • According to CBS News, gun makers tallied $1 billion in revenue over the last 10 years from AR-15s alone.
  • Sending about the same amount on average to the healthcare industry out of citizens' pockets for each mass shooting event. A morbid relationship.
  • Ours is the only country in the world with more civilian-owned firearms than there are people alive to hold them.
  • 120 guns for every 100 citizens according to Bloomberg.
  • Yemen followed with 52.8 per 100 residents. Canada had 34.7 and France and Germany both had 19.6, according to the Small Arms report. In countries like Japan and Indonesia, that number plunged to less than one.
• Calls to Action:
  • Lobby our representatives to do what is right and proven to help solve the problem of gun violence in our country, as inspired by successes abroad:
    • Banning semi-automatic and automatic weapons along with high capacity capabilities.
    • Mandating gun registration.
    • Requiring a reason to buy a gun.
    • Established rules for storing guns.
    • Increasing the minimum age for ownership to 21.
    • Requiring periodic mental health evaluations where changes in status should affect access to guns.
    • And since children potentially have access to these weapons at home, we should invest in their mental healthcare and monitoring for our common good.

Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.

More info

• All those statistics MVP rattled off are too much for the notes. We captured them here for you: CPP S3 E58 Bear Arms for Militias Sake cited_stats.
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