Mass Shootings And The Second Amendment

Reconnecting Individual And Collective Defense

Robert Card, the subject of a dayslong manhunt after allegedly killing 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, has thankfully been found dead from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. Unfortunately, he won’t stand trial for his cowardly crimes, as he took the easy way out, as cowards typically do.

As expected, this tragic mass shooting has once again sparked demands for an "assault weapons ban," with calls coming from various corners of the liberal media and, of course, President Biden himself. 

Shortly after the news of this tragedy became public, Biden issued a statement calling for bipartisan legislation to prohibit the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, along with the implementation of universal background checks, enforcement of safe gun storage measures, and the elimination of immunity from liability for gun manufacturers.

Fortunately for Americans, our legal system has successfully pushed back on attempts to curtail the right to keep and bear arms and, surprisingly, even expanded the right. And yet, President Biden has been clear about his feelings around the Second Amendment, openly mocking those who view it as a bulwark against government tyranny.

“I love my right-wing friends who talk about the tree of liberty is water of the blood of patriots. If you need to work about taking on the federal government, you need some F-15s. You don't need an AR-15."

Of course, Biden butchered the paraphrased quote, as the “tree of liberty” line stems from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, the son-in-law of John Adams.

“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms,” Jefferson wrote. “The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Unsurprisingly, Biden left out the “tyrants” part in his original talking point.

But Biden is not alone. There are many, both within and outside government, on the left and the right, who echo his calls for a strict curtailment of the right to keep and bear arms.

Sadly, one reason why the Second Amendment doesn't make a lot of sense to people in today's world is that the philosophy behind it has been lost. In some ways, it has been positioned as a glorified hunting license. In other areas, the debate has been strictly focused on whether individuals have the right to keep and bear arms to defend themselves and their families. 

That said, it’s vital that in the calls to secure the individual “right to self-defense,” Americans don’t lose sight of the need to collectively defend this right, as we have recently seen what an unchecked government is capable of.

It wasn’t so long ago that Americans struggled through draconian lockdowns and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. State governments around the country took extreme actions that included closing businesses, infringing upon the right to worship, and even restricting the number of people allowed inside one's own home.

The Second Amendment was not limited in scope at the time of inception, in part because it was put in place as a bulwark against the despotism and tyranny that could arise out of an all-powerful government and standing army. Any cursory review of the writings of many of the founding fathers would support that.

However, we don’t need to hearken back to the colonial era to understand the importance of the Second Amendment. One of America’s most revered Democratic Presidents, John F Kennedy, stressed the importance of an armed citizenry during a commemorative message on Roosevelt Day in 1961:

“In my own native state of Massachusetts, the battle for American freedom was begun by the thousands of farmers and tradesmen who made up the Minute Men―citizens who were ready to defend their liberty at a moment's notice. Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of America, cannot succeed with any lesser effort.”

It’s important to note that JFK preserved the link between the “Minute Men” of America’s Revolutionary period and ordinary modern-day American citizens. Unfortunately, that linkage tends to be broken whenever there is a debate over the “true meaning” of the Second Amendment.

Understanding the entire text, and its roots in American History is essential to making the argument for individual and collective gun ownership. Yet, those who attack the Second Amendment usually do so around the meaning of the phrase “well-regulated militia.”

Without going into a full-blown history lesson, “well regulated” in the 18th century had a slightly different meaning than the word “regulated” does today. Around the time of the writing of the Constitution, “well regulated” referred to something being in proper working order, calibrated correctly, and functioning as expected. 

And who made up the militia?

Each colony had its own militia laws, but at the time, the militia was mostly made up of all able-bodied males between the ages of 18-45. Most importantly, individual militiamen were responsible for equipping themselves. Simply put, individuals equipped with their own firearms came together to form a militia. Keeping this historical context in mind, it becomes evident that the preservation of our individual rights has consistently been intertwined with our capacity to unite for their collective defense. 

The tragic events surrounding the recent mass shooting in Maine serve as a stark reminder of the horrors that can unfold in society. The knee-jerk calls for an "assault weapons ban" and the curtailment of our Second Amendment rights in the wake of such incidents are misguided and fail to address the root causes of these tragedies, most notably, mental health, but that is a conversation our representatives don’t want to have.

Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy, separated by almost 200 years, recognized the vital importance of an armed citizenry, not just for individual self-defense but as a means to preserve our collective freedom. As such, using the past as our guide, we must rekindle our understanding of the philosophical foundations of the Second Amendment and its role as a safeguard against government overreach and tyranny.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.