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It seems like I hear a lot of talk about the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says: “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 references I hear the most tend to focus on the part that says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” There doesn’t seem to be as much talk about how the “well regulated militia” fits in.
I’ve always been more of a First Amendment kind of guy. The First Amendment says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
There’s a lot of good stuff in there, including topics that are very important to me and the freedoms our great nation stands for. It says the government can’t tell us what religion to be and allows us to exercise our religion as we see fit. As a man of faith, that is very important to me. It also provides for the freedom of speech and the press, which allows for the free expression of opinions and thoughts, and is crucial for my chosen profession. It also provides the right for people to peaceably assemble and “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” I’m all for peaceful assemblies and I think the right to petition our government regarding our grievances is very important.
Aside from the “well regulated militia,” which I take to mean military, there’s not much that’s important to me in the Second Amendment. Possessing a gun is not something I desire. There are far too many deaths caused by guns in this world and I am becoming more and more repulsed by it every time I hear about it.
To uphold the rights of our great nation, it seems like we need to focus less on how great guns are and more on how great it is to be able to worship our God freely and share ideas and thoughts without harm or punishment. Certainly, politicians, school children, political activists and others should all be able to express their ideas and worship God without being shot at and killed.
We need to focus more on peace and words than hate and violence.