Watching the Ukrainian people defend their country with civilian militias brings to mind the real meaning of our own Second Amendment. Their brave attempt to protect their country through their well-regulated militia is exactly what our Constitution provides for us.
The Second Amendment reads, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The key words here are “well regulated” and “for the security of a free state.” This was included in the Constitution at a time when foreign intervention in our brand-new democracy was a real possibility. Our own well-regulated civilian militias could take up arms to protect themselves, their neighbors, their communities, just like what we are witnessing in Ukraine.
Americans do not have the unbridled right to bear as many arms as we want and in any way we, as individuals, see fit. It does not give every American the right to flaunt an assault weapon while walking down main street in the middle of social unrest. It does not give people the right to bear AK47s unregulated and unregistered with the state. It does not give us the right to a concealed carry weapon. It does not give us the right to buy a gun for our son who then goes and shoots up a school.
As a citizen, I have the right to feel safe in my own country. I have the unalienable right to send my kids to school without worrying that they will die. I have the unalienable right to go shopping or to the movies without worrying that I might get caught up in a mass shooting. The government has the obligation to keep us all safe.
It is inspiring to see the Ukrainian people defend their country in such a robust manner. They are doing so within the confines of an organized, well-regulated resistance. They are operating together as a country, as a united front. Too often, gun rights advocates in this country turn their sights on their own countrymen. The rights of others end with my right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our freedom of speech stops when an individual wants to yell “fire” in a crowded theater. There are limits to our Constitutional freedoms when they infringe on others.
Gun registration, background checks and limits on magazines are all well within constitutional parameters. The purpose of bearing arms is to defend our country of which we are all a part of and should be used as we are seeing in Ukraine, within the structure of a civilian militia.
Diana Heyneker,
La Center
