The 2nd Amendment of the U.S Bill of
Rights (adopted
Dec. 15, 1791):
A well regulated Militia being
necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and
bear arms shall not be infringed.
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I was driving home from work late last night, actually early
this morning, and I was listening to the radio.
As with most news broadcasts lately, this interview focused on the
recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton Connecticut. We all know the horrifying outcome. Like most Americans, despite which side of the
issue you find yourself, such a tragedy has stirred a brew of emotions and
simmered them to the surface. We all
have opinions and many of them are at odds with one another – so what do we do?
I have to admit, I wasn’t simply
driving home - I was crying. I see death
all the time at work in the Emergency Room.
My job deals with life and death issues every day. That is the harsh natural truth of life. Eventually it all comes to an end. However, as a human being we deserve the
right to chose how our end comes to us.
It should never be stolen from us.
Over the years I have witnessed
children die. I have faced these tragedies
as a professional and have never once shed a tear. So why was this hardened, cynical ER provider
crying? My tears were from a mother’s
story whose son perished in the tragedy.
She recalls finding her young child embraced in the arms of his
teacher. They were both shot. Her son was literally scared to his death,
trying to seek solace in the arms of someone he trusted and believed could save
him; someone other than his mother or father, who were not there at his final
moments. My children, as I felt before
with my Dad, see me as Superman, yet Superman never came to this child or 19 of
his schoolmates.
I immediately envisioned that being my son, and I could not dam
the flood of emotions. Fear, anger,
hatred, love and empathy. It was one of the most emotional moments of my life. All my tears could not wash away how I was
feeling and how I still feel. Feelings I
hope we all share.
What do we do? That is
the question that everyone is asking. Is
there an easy answer? Do we repel the second
amendment altogether or do nothing and even escalate the issue by arming
security guards in every school in American as the NRA has proposed?
I will start by saying that Wayne Lapierre of the NRA made a
bone ass suggestion when he recommended armed guards in every American
school. I shook my head in disbelief when
he said, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” What a jack ass! With that being said, I will admit that I own
guns. I have a lot of guns. I even have an assault rifle. I believe in the Bill of Rights including the
right to keep and bear arms, however I have a moderate interpretation of the
amendment that our forefathers wrote over 200 years ago.
I believe I have the right to protect my family from anyone
breaking into my house that may do my family harm. My home is a sanctuary for myself and my
family and no one has the right to steal that peace and security away from
us. Do I need an assault rifle for
that? No. A shotgun will do the job nicely. So would a revolver with a 6 shot
capacity.
Should I have the right and freedom to walk the public streets
of our country carrying a lethal weapon?
Unlike our home which is private and personal, public places are for
everyone, and we need to share them in a state of peace and cooperation,
especially during times of disagreement.
Carrying that firearm around in public is not a necessary evil. It is a means for intimidation and creating
avoidable immorality. Many times law
abiding citizens, not deranged mental patients, resort to deadly force during
an argument in a public place simply because they had the means to do so.
These individuals support the statement we always hear, “Guns
don’t kill people, people kill people,” This pro-gun argument has truth, but
guns definitely make it a lot easier to kill people, and to effectively kill a
lot of them quickly. So, what we need is
some sort of compromise. Find a middle
ground, that will allow a father to protect his family from someone entering
his home to harm his children; yet prevent or at least make it very difficult
to allow a ‘normal’ person who suffers from a temporary moment of insanity from
killing a mother because of a road rage argument, as well as preventing a deranged
individual from deciding to murder masses of people because they forgot to take
their medication.
Why are Americans, normal and mentally ill, resorting to
deadly violence? This is the other issue
to the problem. I believe it is the main
issue, the disease that is plaguing this country and I will address this
sickness in Part II and I discuss in detail in my book MediSin.
If it means a safer place for my
children, this second amendment advocate will gladly give up my guns for my
sons. I will find other ways to raise my
testosterone level and get that adrenaline rush that many of us are truly after.
Buy Niam Hew's new book MediSin NOW!
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