The Second Amendment

Mariama Diallo

I am not naïve enough to believe that doing away with the Second Amendment would do away with gun violence, but I know firsthand the impact of guns and gun shots on children. This nation was constructed and reconstructed in the aftermath of violent and bloody conflicts. Still, the Framers believed that not only the Constitution, but also the peaceful way the document was created, would penetrate the Americans' minds and change they engaged. The Constitution would be the only weapon needed unless there was an external enemy.

This quote by Melynda Price forces us to stop and rethink about the United States constitution, to be precise the Second Amendment which gives the US citizens the right to bear arms (guns). Melynda doesn’t believe that getting rid of the Second Amendment will fully eliminate gun violence. Instead, she believe it will help reduce gun violence. Weapons are not the best tools to use when it comes to solving conflicts or even rightly changing the minds of the citizens.  The United States Constitution is just a peaceful document and it is up. Do we use it as it is or do we revised it to fit our life style today?

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution states the following: “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 main propose of the Second Amendment at the time when it was declared was to give the US citizens the right to defend themselves and the country during wars. All that being said, Should all US citizens be allowed to bear arms? This is a question we should all be asking ourselves. The United States army forces is one of the top if not the best army in the world which means that we don’t need every US citizen to be armed. I chose this quote because it is a very important issue we are facing. I strongly believe that the Second Amendment should be revised or eliminated. Given the people the right to bear arms have more negative impact than positive impact. Lately, every time you turn around there are school shootings or taxi drivers being shot and killed during working hours. For example, couple weeks ago, Mamadou Barry, a taxi driver was found shot to death in his livery cab a few miles from his home. This criminal took away a father of four beautiful sons and a husband of eight month pregnant women. In Addison to, on December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I believe these very sad tragedies are linked to the Second Amendment