Too Many Guns In The U.S.

As people around the world react in shock and disbelief at the mass killings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, the American pro-gun lobby is probably already preparing to ward off those intent, and rightfully so, to bring some sanity to the idea that people need guns.

The pro-gun forces rely heavily on the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution which states "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."

While few people believe that the intent of this amendment was to allow every person in the United States the right to stockpile a wide range weapons and ammunition, it is what the National Rifle Association (NRA) uses as justification to support pro-gun positions. The commonly used statement that ‘guns don’t kill people, it is people who kill people’ is without merit and is nauseating to hear.

If anything good can come from this senseless tragedy is that U.S. politicians set aside partisan politics and address the gun problem. How many more innocent people need to die before Americans demand that some misguided and self-serving interpretation of the second amendment not take a back seat to common sense.