Rarely in my
lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and
their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities
throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand
our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to
minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our
society.
That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons,
increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and
establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of
firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more
lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.
Let's see: 2/3 of both houses of Congress and 37 of 50 states. Yeah,
that's going to happen.
Clayton,
ReplyDeleteit's my understanding that none of the original BOR can be "repealed". The original colonies required it to be added before they would ratify the Constitution. IIRC, an attempt to do this would trigger an automatic separation of a number of those states that have it as part of their own state constitution. I think that would certainly earn the label of Constitutional Crisis!
Do you know any of the details of this?
There were requests (more than any other amendment) and an assumption that one would be added, but none made ratification dependent on a Bill of Rights.
ReplyDeleteOdd. I would swear that several of the original states have Poison Pills about leaving the Union if the Constitution/BOR is reduced in any fashion. I've read so much over the years, I have no clue where to check.
ReplyDeleteWill: If you find it, let me know.
ReplyDelete