No Second Amendment Right to Hawk Guns to Kids, Crooks, and Killers
While the 2nd Amendment right of American citizens to bear arms is uninfringable, how and to whom arms can be hawked to the public is currently the subject of much-needed and long overdue scrutiny.
The 2nd Amendment presumed the nation's interests would be well served by citizens equipped, motivated, and trained to protect America from rogue standing armies and threats from abroad. Indeed, the Second Amendment was requisite to the adoption of our Constitution and should be respected as such.
The reference in the Second Amendment to a "well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state" presumes a citizenry armed and trained to protect the nation from such domestic or foreign threats.
In Federalist 29, Alexander Hamilton specifically anticipated that the new nation's musket owners would be called once a year for a month of training. Many gun enthusiasts embrace their right to bear arms, but the concurrent presumption at the time the Second Amendment was penned, that they would also give a month a year to train with a well-regulated militia...well, not so much.
While gun ownership is essentially unregulated, some states have begun to address the issue of how firearms are marketed to the public. Of growing concern is the marketing of lethal weapons to children and marketing themes that have little to do with national defense or recreational hunting. So, the Second Amendment has evolved into a multi-faceted, largely unregulated national bazaar with no training requirement for millions of Americans who own guns.
Enter the Jr-15, a semi-automatic small-fry, long rifle that fires 22 caliber rounds and functions, well, pretty much like the semi-automatic rifles we read about with tragic regularity following one mass shooting after another.
Wee 1 Tactical, the company that makes and markets the Jr-15, says that its "lightweight, two-pound rugged polymer construction and ergonomics are geared towards young enthusiasts."
The company trumpets its unique safety mechanism, which consists of an extra knob that enables an adult to override the standard safety switch and, thereby, keep a tot from firing the semi-automatic rifle. The company's founder, Eric Schmid, proudly compares the safety feature to a pill bottle: "It could stop younger kids," he says, but quickly adds, "Your 12-year-olds are going to unlock it real easy." "It fits the kids really well," he told visitors to his booth at a recent gun show in Las Vegas. "That'll give them the confidence to hold this thing the way they should have confidence holding it — no drop down in the front trying to manage a weight that's not right for them. It just fits 'em, fits 'em really well."
Many elected officials see the introduction of the JR 15 semi-automatic assault rifle for kids as a wake-up call demonstrating how myopic we've become regarding the extremes of our gun culture. Others, such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), suggest that if children in Uvalde, Texas, had JR 15 semi-automatic rifles with them that awful day a year ago, they could have shot it out with the 18-year-old shooter who killed 19 of them at Robb Elementary School. Given how poorly law enforcement responded to the massacre in Uvalde, many may well agree with Representative Greene.
The reality is that guns enjoy special protected status in America, well beyond what the Second Amendment bestows on them. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCCA), which former President George W. Bush signed into law, grants broad civil liability immunity to the gun industry. The rationale for the law was simply that gun manufacturers shouldn't be held responsible for the illegal behavior of gun owners, just as automobile manufacturers shouldn't be held responsible for the reckless driving of automobile owners.
Fair enough. However, no same person would tolerate, nor would the law countenance, an automobile manufacturer overtly promoting unlawful driving, including encouraging underage persons to operate motor vehicles in violation of a state's automobile driving laws.
And therein lies an opening, a potentially compelling case for holding gun manufacturers responsible when their marketing and advertising cross the line by subtly or overtly promoting potentially dangerous or even illegal use of their products to the public. One of the few and narrow exceptions to the immunity that gun manufacturers enjoy under PLCCA kicks in when there is a violation of a state law applicable to the sale or marketing of firearms.
Just such a state law has been enacted in Illinois this week targeting gun manufacturers who use deceptive campaigns to market their products, even to children.
Gun advertisers often push the envelope beyond what many would consider good judgment. One might question the purpose of Wilson Combat's "Urban Super Sniper" ads which boast that their Super Sniper can hit within an inch at 100 yards. And then there is Bushmaster's advertising message, "Forces of Opposition, Bow Down," or Bushmaster's "Consider Your Man Card Reissued," or Daniel Defense's "Use What They Use" headline over what appears to be a combat zone and Benelli tactical shotgun ads which tout their effectiveness in "Iraq, Afghanistan, (and) your living room."
The right to gun ownership is part of American history and culture, and that isn't going to change. However, every state has a responsibility to provide, to the extent possible, a safe environment for those who choose to own guns and those who choose not to own or carry these lethal weapons.
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Hal, I disagree with your statement about the lack of training. Maryland has very strict training regulations. I just finished a full two-day course. But there is another side to this. My dad taught me how to shoot when I was about 5 years old. Actually in the shooting range located in the NRA headquarters at 16th and Mass Avenue (if you can believe it). It also taught me discipline and respect for a firearm at a very young age. I developed a passion for guns and hunting and passed it on to my kids and many other children that I have taught, which goes hand in hand with the love and respect for the outdoors. So, on another topic, maybe video game companies should eliminate the violent games that kids sit at home and are addicted to. The parents don't monitor this crap, but at least good dad's like me teach their kids how to shoot and respect firearms and the outdoors. Maybe video manufacturers should be held responsible for what they create.
This is an excellent succinct open minded approach to this topic that lends itself to Uber emotional defensive irrational rants. It should be widely read. If only you were a commentator on CNN or MSNBC. We need a sensible voice like yours to moderate the self righteous indignation on all sides.