Ummmm, it is my right. The reason it is number two is to insure the protection of the other rights you love so much. I understand YOU don't think it should be a right but it has stood for over 200 years which to me is bolder than any statement you can make. My other reasons I cite for owning a firearm are just side benefits.
All it would take is for the government to amend that right and suddenly it disappears. All the guns in the world can't stop a piece of legislation in a civilized country that adheres to the rule of law.
But you'd probably go to war for it right? They went to war over slavery too.
Slavery was part of that exact same document for 88 years as well.
200 years is certainly a longer period of time, but the simple fact that there are indeed amendments to that document proves that it in and of itself is not as infallible as you seem to think it is. It was changed before and it can be changed again.
Ownership of an inanimate object and ownership of a human being is two entirely different things. Keep trying.
For us, yeah, but not according to the document we are talking about. For the 'forefathers' slaves were inanimate objects. They were
possessions pure and simple, and they were defined as such in the literature of the day.
You're completely missing the context in which the document was written, and that is basically my point here.
What if you were constitutionally entitled to own miniature train sets? Or tea cozies? Or hats?
The idea that a possession is worthy of the highest legal protection a country can afford is so disturbingly absurd that it boggles the mind of those of us who use reason and logic to progress further in society.
Can you explain how the second amendment is "grossly misinterpreted today"?
Any situation in which someone tries to justify owning automatic weapons or excessive amounts of guns by using the 2nd amendment.
You can justify it by the reasons you may need said weapons (hunting, defense, sport shooting) and those are technically sound arguments, but using the constitution doesn't provide any solid grounds for owning weapons.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
And sadly, the second isn't "a right of equal stature". One must go through a background check in order to purchase a firearm. One must follow hundreds of laws specifically addressing where, when, and how he can carry a firearm. Maybe we should require background checks in order to excercise one's freedom of speech and freedom of religion as well.
Again, according to the constitution it is. There are many laws in place which limit the 1st Amendment to certain degrees and in certain situations. Many popular religions allow the practice of several things which the rule of law deems unacceptable. Stoning, canings, capital punishment, animal sacrifice, etc. that we have laws against.
I'll reiterate my point; the ownership of any specific possession should not be an inalienable right of equal importance as the other rights contained in the Constitution and subsequent amendments to it.
Would you be for or against a law that requires all new firearms for civilian issue to be usable only by its registered owner through any type of control system (ex: fingerprint locks, dna locks, etc.) should said system become available?
I'll even concede to my hypothetical question that the system is not connected to any network so that the government couldn't 'shut it down' if they had to.