Of course, we shouldn’t forget that there were only a handful of Founding Fathers who attended and were even involved in writing the Constitution, and that those who wrote the Constitution are referred to as the Framers. But, hey, facts are problematic for gun grabbers, and it’s really difficult to look up information, you know, at least for USA Today’s Jill Lawrence, who’s attempting to Make A Point
Would the Founders want our kids to die in school shootings like Santa Fe? I doubt it.
Amid all we know about the Founding Fathers, two things stand out in the wake of yet another mass shooting that underscores the desperate need for action and the depth of our paralysis.
The first is that nearly a third of the 39 delegates who signed the Constitution endured the tragedy of losing children. By one count, 24 sons and daughters born to a dozen signers died before adulthood. The second is that these and the other Founders were among the greatest change-makers in history. They were America’s first #Resist movement, and they fought an actual war to create a future unbound from the past.
Does anyone think they would expect us to live by a 230-year-old document? Would they stand by, reciting the centuries-old Second Amendment, if their own children were endangered — in school, at malls, in movie theaters, on city streets — by easy access to guns? Or would they start us on the road to universal background checks, mandatory waiting periods and other steps most Americans say they want?
Actually, yes, I do think the Framers would want us to live by that 230 year old document, and they also gave America the ability to change the Constitution, if they can get it done. But, if Jill is unhappy about it, she should drag out her quill pen and write to her Congressperson, sending the letter by horse. Or, maybe use the same type of manual printing presses available in the late 1700’s. Or perhaps we can start stationing troops at Jill’s house, having done away with the 3rd Amendment. The Framers thought that was pretty darned important to restrict government. And are those warrant thingies really necessary?
We abolished slavery long ago, militias have turned into the National Guard, and estimates suggest Americans own millions of AR-15s that are modeled on M-16s. It’s a world light years beyond the ken of the Founders.
As brilliant as they were, they’d be the first to say that they and their blueprint for America were imperfect — limited by their experiences, their era, their differences, the difficult compromises they had to make. They bequeathed us infinite complications, not because they wanted to but because they could not see the future and because they had to in order to get the job done.
In other words, ban guns, abolish the 2nd Amendment. Remember, they aren’t coming for your guns, they just want some common sense reforms.
