During recent discussions about gun laws I have heard many people say that the Constitution was written more than 200 years ago and the original authors of the second amendment did not know that today's weapons would exist. This is true! The men who wrote the Constitution, though, were not just looking out for their time. They were actually making decisions and writing this document with the idea that they were doing so for generations to come. (Wouldn't it be nice if our current politicians thought like that?)
At the time that the Constitution was written, things were different. Slavery was legal. Women were not allowed to vote. There were no term limits for the President. Alcohol was legal, then it wasn't, and now it is again. All of these items were changed by amendments to the Constitution.
If, as people point out now, guns need to be regulated by the government, then a Constitutional amendment must be proposed and ratified. This right cannot be taken in any other manner - not by laws passed by the legislative branch nor by orders given by the executive branch. If this is accomplished in any other way, then the entire document becomes void, and we become a nation without a governing document. Anyone can do anything, and our rights will be gone.
Article V of the Constitution for the United States of America is as follows:
The
Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary,
shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of
the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a
Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be
valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or
by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of
Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided
that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand
eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth
Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
So, if there is a need to change any part of the Constitution, whether it be the second amendment, "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." OR the thirteenth amendment, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to
their jurisdiction", it must be done by an amendment, according to the document that is the basis for our nation.
Please take a few minutes to read the Constitution again. This is the document that governs our nation. http://constitutionus.com/
