Legislators in Minnesota are trying to amend the constitution with a nod to the second Amendment. It would read: “The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms for the defense and security of the person, family, or home or for lawful hunting, recreation or marksmanship training is fundamental and shall not be abridged.” Amen. Why doesn’t the United States Constitution go into such detail?

Citizens have a right, and should always have the right, to protect themselves and family in the case of an emergency. It’s hard to argue against that. However, people who haven’t learned never to point a gun at someone, loaded or not, shouldn’t own guns. People who are criminals shouldn’t own guns. People who are insane shouldn’t own guns. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine who knows what, who is crazy, who is racist, who is a criminal but hasn’t been convicted, and that’s how firearms get into the wrong hands. One thing is certain though: All gun owners should be required to take gun safety courses, which is now something only minors are required to do. This would at least give people the basic knowledge of gun safety, which I’m sure at least half of gun owners are unaware of.

Back to the issue…the deadlies. The handguns and machine guns of the world. The majority of homicides in the United States involve the use of these weapons. They should NOT be so readily available. No one needs to protect his house with an AK47. No one needs to go hunting with a Glock. There will not be masses of people storming your house if you are being robbed. Hunting, there will not be deer 10 yards away from you waiting to get a handgun bullet between the eyes. Sure, the Ted Nugent type enjoy blasting off hundreds of rounds a minute and shooting two pistols at once, but “fun” should not be a reason to keep these firearms legal. In fact, under the stipulations of what would go into the Minnesota Constitution, handguns and automatic weapons should be illegal. People don’t need weapons that can fire 300 rounds per minute or fit inside their belt.

A citizen also has the right to hunt legally. Humans have hunted since the dawn of our existence and should be allowed to continue. However, it should be against the law to trophy hunt. You shouldn’t be able to kill something you won’t or can’t eat. So, for all of you hipsters that think hunting is some brutal, cruel act of murder, tell me: How is it worse for a guy to kill his own food than buy a piece of shit CAFO burger from McDonalds? Hmmm…it isn’t. It’s FAR from worse. In fact, anyone who wants to eat meat should at least SEE slaughter. People have forgotten that meat comes from an animal, and the distance that’s been created between x`us and our food has reached much too wide of a gap, but that’s a whole other argument.

Guns are like fire: when used responsibly they can do good (protect our homes, put criminals in jail, provide us with food, and yes, sometimes offer stress relief) but if used irresponsibly,they are dangerous (they can kill people, destroy families and homes, be used for robbery etc.). The United
States has not successfully found a way to control guns and should be working much harder in doing so.