A Well Regulated Militia, by Jane Smith

By -

The Second Amendment: 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.

When I read the 2nd amendment, I get a little confused.  First, the darned thing seems a bit convoluted…what does a well-regulated militia have to do with the right of the people? Are the people, ALL the people, the militia?  I suppose, at the time this was written, the people WERE the militia, pretty much all of the people. And we were disorganized trying to create a new country.

That’s not true now…we have a real well regulated militia, and all the millions and millions of people who have guns are just not part of it.  We allow our militia – the army, navy, marines, coast guard - to protect us, which is likely what the writers of this amendment intended to mean, and what Jefferson would have meant when he approved it. There would be some designated people to be our militia, and they would be well regulated. That’s a workable plan for who should have guns, well-regulated people.

Should the amendment be amended to reflect current times? Is that what thinking people could do?

We don’t use everything they used during those times when the amendments were written.  Our legislators don’t wear grey wigs and jodhpurs, we don’t dip our quill pens in ink to sign things unless we are calligraphers, and we drive cars, not horses.  We also use computers and cell phones and watch millions of dollars being spent on sporting events – Mr. Jefferson and those others would likely be appalled to hear about all that.

I am pretty sure that the average human being, without regulation of some sort, would make a bad militiaman.  Put a gun in his/my hands, and I might just get angry with you for taking something I think is mine, or because you said something I didn’t like, and shoot you – I don’t trust my occasional outbursts to manage what becomes an extension of my hand, and has a trigger I can manipulate with just a finger movement.  I do better using words, and even then I can be dangerous!  But you would come out of the moment alive, at least.

I want to be delivered from as much temptation as possible when I can’t trust my instincts to be above the baser ones. I want there to be enough time involved for me to get my better wits about me.  If a gun is close by – I dunno…I will probably not be as well regulated as I need to be.  And that’s a chance I don’t want to take.

Comments

Post a Comment

We appreciate your input and look forward to your comments. We review messages prior to posting.

Popular posts from this blog

What Is Left When We Leave the Room, by Nancy Dorrier

By -
Image
What is left of us when we leave the room, leave the call, leave the house, leave the party, and, of course, leave ultimately?  Perhaps our conversations--what we talked about and what we listened to. Plain and simple. What were we building on those empty lots of time? The weather was too hot and the traffic too much and parking places too hard to find. Were those worth the real estate they occupied? We have this moment, this precious moment, so tell me what you love about your life, what you love about your work, and what matters to you. Tell me about Billy Collins or Bruce Springsteen or Maya Angelou, who said, People don’t remember what you said; they remember who they were in your presence . Do people get bigger and brighter or smaller and duller around you? Make a list: Whom do you talk to and what you talk about? That’s the baseline. Make a second list: What could you talk about with them that you aren’t now? And what could you a...
Read more

Guns, by Jane Smith

By -
My father killed himself with a perfectly legal handgun left over from his law enforcement days.  He kept it long after he retired, in the top drawer of a mahogany chest of drawers in our big hall, unloaded but right beside the ammunition. My brother and I knew not to touch it…not ever. Dad was troubled about his health, and the gun was handy and available that December morning. I don’t know if he would have used another method. I just know he didn’t.
Read more

Creative Alignment - What is it? by Nancy Dorrier

By -
One of Dorrier Underwood’s tools for building relationships is to use creative writing as a path to discovery and authentic communication. We’ve long used the practice internally, and are happy to expand it to include blogging, as a way for us to share our exploration – and process of exploration - with you.  Nancy Dorrier, thought leader, co-founder, and president of Dorrier Underwood, starts us off with a reflection on creative alignment. What is it?  I listen to ourselves. Our intern used to say we interrupt a lot. She isn’t saying or not saying, Wow you guys listen a lot . She isn’t even being critical. “I am just saying.” Then I listen to a friend and his wife talk on top of each other and I don’t know which one to respond to. Trucking along in the conversation and here comes another voice. What is the value of 2 brains or 3 brains? Someone is thinking beyond, or at least other than the way I think, and the way you think. You and I can only think what we ...
Read more