The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States guarantees us the right to bear arms. The Founding Fathers of the United States must have thought a lot of this right, because they placed it second only to the rights of freedom of religion, free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceable assembly and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances--our First Amendment rights.

In fact, they placed the right to keep and bear arms ahead of the right not to have to quarter soldiers without consent, freedom from unreasonable search and siezure, the right to a fair trial without self-incrimination and the rest of the Bill of Rights. In my book, this makes the Second Amendment a very important right, indeed! It is one of our Civil Rights.

Now, there are people who want to take away our right to bear arms. Why is this?

Some claim that the mere presence of guns in our country threatens the very well-being of all our citizens. They make some very heartrending presentations. There is a public service announcement from Cease Fire that shows children playing with a pistol they have evidently found while searching through someone's bureau drawers. The rest of the scene is left to our imagination. It's a scary commercial. If you go to their web site, you will see lots of impressive statistics, most of which are several years old, which almost give credence to their position. However, there are many things left out of their arguments.

One of these is that it is now illegal to allow a child to get hold of a handgun. More legislation is not necessary here--just better enforcement and better information.

The National Rifle Association at one time went to schools, teaching children the elements of gun safety. Now, much of the time and resources the NRA has are being wasted fighting frivolous lawsuits that pose an even greater danger to the honest citizen.

Currently, several cities and other groups are suing the gun manufacturers and retailers, claiming that guns need to be made safer, and that we have the technology to do so. The fact is, that at the present state of development of the various safety interlocks that are being considered for guns, They would pose a greater danger than the guns we now have. Let me explain why.

Let's say that you are an ordinary, law-abiding citizen, you are asleep, and you hear someone breaking into your house. The intruder approaches. You find your gun and flashlight, and using the skills you have learned from your handgun training, you identify the intruder as an armed burglar.

With currently made firearms, you have the ability to stop the intruder and turn him over to the police. With the proposed firearms, you have to make sure your interface is working, and that you either enter the correct code or have the special transmitter (or whatever kind of dongle or widget is supposed to be used) in place, before you dare to make your move.

For the law enforcement officer, the situation is even more critical. If a fingerprint interface is used, and the officer's gun hand is disabled, then he can't switch hands to fire. He also can't use his partner's gun if his partner is disabled. It doesn't take much imagination to see how complex the various scenarios with "smart" guns can be.

Frankly, smart guns are stupid!

There is a theory that "smart" guns would be less desirable to criminals. Give me a break! There is no interface or dongle made that some hacker or criminal can't figure out how to override. Look at ignition keys!

There is only one kind of gun control that will work--and it is plainly constitutional. That is teaching people how to control their own guns.

Is there anyone in the world who does not know that guns are dangerous, and if used improperly can kill or wound? I don't think so!

The anti-gun forces feel that since there are some people who cannot handle guns properly, nobody should have them.

Hold on, there, pard! You are making assumptions about me from facts that are not in evidence.

You really don't know anything about me--or about the people who are in favor of keeping our Second Amendment Rights. Just to prove this to you, I am listing some links that will show you several different perspectives on gun ownership.

To see gun ownership from a well thought out liberal perspective, go to Second Thoughts--The Web Page for the Armed Liberal.

For the single most active anti gun control web site you can find, visit Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership.

For the Women's perspective on this issue, go to Women Against Gun Control.

And no list of this kind of site would be complete without mentioning The Second Amendment Foundation.

Citizens of America, in conjunction with the Lawyers' Second Amendment Society has a web site that will give you the opportunity to make a difference. For more information, click here.

Each of these sites on this brief list of links will send you to more pages. Read them carefully, and you will see that gun ownership is a positive thing when done with responsibility. Gun owners revere their civil right to own guns, just as they revere their other civil rights. Many of us were civil rights activists during the 1960's, at a time when it was not fashionable to participate in such activities. We know how hard the battle was, and we don't want to have to go through it again to regain something that is already ours.

For a proposed code of conduct based on secular law, click here.

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Here is a wonderful piece of satire concerning the way the media report gun coverage. Click here to read it.

And, one of my favorite links, which has more to do with our culture, as we know it, and the reasons we are steadily losing our freedom, Charlton Heston's speech at the Harvard Law School Forum, February 16, 1999. Click here to view the text of this thought-provoking speech.

A wonderful essay on the relationship between firearms and being an American appeared on The Firing Line Forums recently. It was submitted by Dennis M. Bateman.
To view it, click here.

This is only marginally Second Amendment related, but it is historical, and I think you might like it. The American Eagle Luger is being reissued in a stainless steel collector's version. To learn more about it click here.

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