2nd Amendment USA Today Quiz

A friend of mine recently forwarded this email to me:

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2nd Amendment Issue - Only 5 seconds
Due to the current presidential stand on Gun Laws, USA Today is running a Quick Question on-line. It simply asks, Does the 2nd Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?

It is frustrating to me that "we the people" are even asked to reiterate a known right that has been around for over 200 years!

This quick questionnaire gives you the right to make your opinion heard. It takes 5 seconds. It is still a live link. Our new Attorney General has already said this is one of his major issues..
This takes literally 2 clicks to complete. Please vote on this gun issue question with USA Today... It will only take a few seconds of your time. Then pass the link on to all the pro gun folks you know. Hopefully these results will be published later this month.

First - vote on this one. Second - launch it to other folks and have THEM vote - then we will see if the results get published. Vote in the USA Today poll - click on the link below.

The Question is: Does the Second Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?
http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/november/popup5895.htm

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Okay, so yes, I clicked on the site and it was a legitimate USA Today poll. And not surprisingly, the HUGE majority voted "yes".

Before I voted though, I figured it wouldn't hurt to review the 2nd Amendment again because it's been a little while since I studied it.

Here's the text from my pocket US Constitution:

Amendment II:
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.

Now, here's something interesting I just found out. I have a dusty book from ages ago on my bookshelf that I pulled out to read also, "The Constitution of the United States: An Introduction" by Floyd G. Cullop, published in 1969 by Signet Books then 1984 by Mentor Books, both part of Penguin Books USA, Inc. To the author's credit, he has the full original text of the US Constitution in the back of the book, but the majority of his text interprets the Constitution & puts it into "plain" English to make it "easier" to understand. I added the "" marks because this is how he puts the Second Amendment:

Amendment 2: Right to Bear Arms
For their protection and for purposes of having a well-trained militia the people of the states may keep and bear (own) arms (weapons), but the federal government or the state governments may pass laws against owning certain weapons and the way others may be used.

Whoa!!!! Wait a minute!!! Since when does the original language give the government, even the state government, the right to limit this protected freedom to bear arms??? When and how did this idea get enough traction to be placed in a paperback "textbook" guide to the Constitution?

I have to admit, although my conservative nature has leaned to the pro-NRA side of things, I've not really delved into this issue like many of my other friends have done. I know that my state representatives (Senator Madsen and Representative Sumsion) are very pro-Second Amendment, and I'm fairly certain that our 3rd District US Representative Jason Chaffetz is in favor of protecting this precious freedom.

I haven't read any articles lately about our new US Attorney General's stand on the Second Amendment but I'm fairly certain that Obama is about as anti-NRA as anyone can get, apart from maybe actually bombing the national NRA office or something. Of course he would appoint someone as AG that would see issues his way. I still get fairly rankled over Obama's derisive comments about those people "clinging to their guns and their religion" like it was something immature and foolish to want freedom. Of all things!

Well, I think this was a wake up call for me - time to keep my eyes and ears open more to see what our President and his appointees keep trying to do, and time for me to become more active in supporting the original language of the US Constitution!