Supporting our constitutional rights are of paramount importance. Nothing should matter more than defending the vision of our country laid out by our founders.

However- what is it that our forefathers really intended?

The Second Amendment reads: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

There are two major flaws of interpretation that have occurred since its ratification in 1791.

First- when the Bill of Rights was written, it was based in the time of muskets and other like weapons. The Founding Fathers couldn’t possibly have conceived of the fully automatic shotgun in those days. However, gun nuts grasp onto the words in the amendment and demand that their right to any gun is unending.

Second- any person equipped with basic grammar and punctuation skills can point out the series of commas in the amendment. These commas imply that this is all one thought. Meaning that it is referring to a well regulated militia having the right to bear arms, not Joe Citizen.

If the intent was to have every citizen be able to carry a gun, it wouldn’t state “well regulated” in front of militia. It sure doesn’t say “non-regulated” or “poorly regulated.” So the only way you as a citizen have the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment is if you are in a well regulated militia. There aren’t any of those in Fresno.

Since then, I’m sure it’s been reinterpreted by courts and by our fellow man, but don’t tout the Second Amendment because it is not what supports your argument.

The same goes for First Amendment rights. If we’re talking about First Amendment rights in school, we wouldn’t use the First Amendment as our first source of defense, because the First Amendment doesn’t say anything about schools.

We would sight “Tinker” or California Education Codes. Why is it that the same level of scrutiny doesn’t apply to the Second Amendment?

“I’ve got my Second Amendment rights,” said every gun-toting southern hillbilly redneck ever.

Everyone should ask which poorly regulated militia they belong to that gives them the right to bear arms. The U.S. Government doesn’t give M16s to citizens, they give them to soldiers that have signed up to defend our country and constitution with their lives. It amazes me that people somehow think that carrying guns is an equivalence.

Even if we were to go by the Second Amendment as gospel and say that it gives rights to all Americans, the Constitution is an outdated document that didn’t even work toward abolishing slavery until many years later. It needs to be revised.

It’s difficult to predict and prevent mass shootings, but how many times do you read in the news about a child accidentally shooting their little brother or sister? One time is too many. These are the types of incidents we should be looking to prevent. If a madman wants to get a gun and shoot up a school or a military base, he’s going to find a way to get a gun. But guns in random households are what we should look into.

If there was regulation, as required by the Second Amendment, then it is most likely that these events would not happen often since the odds of the parents being signed up to fight for a militia would be very slim, and the needless deaths of children wouldn’t occur as commonly. If we do not support gun control for Aurora and Newton, then we must do it for the innocent children whose parents bring weapons into the home and don’t monitor them.