More than two centuries ago, before they knew to rifle the bores of muskets and pistols, that is, make them spiral the projectile to spin out for greater accuracy, the writers of the Bill of Rights allowed in the Second Amendment the possession of guns. In that way America became, like Yemen, a nation with nearly free access to handguns. Most other nations have outlawed them except for police and military use. This made America, with 4.4 percent of world population, the leader in criminal misuse of guns. One has to ask how the other nations live safely with none of our American carnage.
Gun reform has proven wickedly difficult for politicians and police to harness. When the best Americans can provide is “thoughts and prayers” uncoupled to actions (a blasphemy) after the latest slaughter in store or parking lot or theater or church, we know we have a problem. Reform opponents argue that guns provide protection, saying that it takes a good guy with a gun to take down a bad guy with one. But they do not explain why other civilized nations ban them. These nations too are concerned about self-protection and about personal freedom, the latter being something unbelievably important to us Americans. The controversy lumbers on, with no end in sight. The media go into a “Groundhog Day” recital with each massacre.
So I propose some controversial solutions: outlaw the possession, sale and transfer of ammunition, and supply a taser to anyone who turns in a handgun, for starters. The Second Amendment does not specify ammunition as something protected by legal right. Just stage a lightening-like strike from Guam to Maine at the same moment, conducted by armed forces and police to confiscate every bullet from every shelf of every store and legislate the manufacture of ammunition be directed only and exclusively to the military and the police. If necessary make trade-in allowance for bullets in private possession. Granted criminals will make their own bullets as a few have been known to do, but most will not have the materials or the know how.
Tasers are not foolproof but are less harmful than firearms. Walking on city streets in this era of rampant drug addiction and COVID-19 stress can be made safer with these stun guns.
I appreciate that most hunters, gun collectors and target shooters are law abiding citizens. I understand that they object to infringement of their rights. I do not cavalierly dismiss these. But the higher right to life preempts the pleasure of bringing home fresh meat or collecting guns or sharpshooting. Putting these rights along side the right to life, every bit as sacred as anti-abortion advocates say it is, should go a long way to justifying so drastic a solution to so drastic a crisis. We Catholics are pro-life, are we not?
The scales of justice metaphorically represent the law’s imperative duty to weigh conflicting rights and give precedence to the higher one. In this case the legitimate pleasure of gun owners should yield to everyone’s right to live secure, as people do in other countries. These are the same ones who are aghast when their media report the latest instance of our government sanctioned slaughter.
Eminent domain is what the law calls the legitimate seizure of land in order to build a road across a property owner’s yard. The common good calls for a road, so the owner has to yield after fair compensation. The owner may contest the seizure in court if the compensation seems too little. The same procedure would enable the state to impound a store owner’s property, the ammunition without which a gun is useless. It seems after all the mass killings and all their publicity that the common good would dictate that bullets may no longer be in the hands of demented or criminal or irresponsible people.
This should apply especially to automatic weapons that fire several bullets a second. It should also govern high capacity magazine clips. No hunter, collector or marksman needs to fire so many shots so quickly. Do deer shoot back? For a time in this country these were outlawed. But don’t overlook the determination of the gun lobby to overturn the legal restraints, given the malleability of congresspersons from certain close-by areas. Another drastic idea would be to have the Southern Poverty Law Center bankrupt them in court the way they did with the Ku Klux Klan. Or we could repeal the Second Amendment.
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