Reproduced below is an ongoing (perhaps) conversation I am having on an American blog. I start by quoting a statement made on the blog in defence of the 2nd Amendment:-
"The Founding Fathers decided it was wiser to make sure that the good folk could freely have access to the means of self-protection, even if it meant that a few nut bars would slip through the cracks."
But the Founding Fathers lived in a different world. Supposing they could have forseen that, several hundred years later 80 Americans would die from gun violence every day (Coalition to Stop Gun Violence): that the rate of firearm deaths among kids under age 15 would be almost 12 times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized countries combined; and that American kids are 16 times more likely to be murdered with a gun, 11 times more likely to commit suicide with a gun, and nine times more likely to die from a firearm accident than children in 25 other industrialized countries combined (Centers for Disease Control)? ~ quedula
Quedula, the founding fathers would probably be more alarmed at the number of children killed accidentally in shootings because the perp was completely unable to hit what he/she aimed at. I would think that they would immediately require remedial firearm safety and marksmanship classes to be taught in schools since so many of the modern parents are completely remiss in this.
The founding fathers would no doubt be more concerned about accidental drownings than by firearm discharge since it is several orders of magnitude higher. Guess swimming pool ownership should be banned because it is very dangerous. In their day, if children were going to drown, they had to fall in the well or a pond or a river.
What about deaths by automobile accident? Traveling in an automobile is very dangerous, and people are more likely to meet their death by automobile than by firearm. Guess we should ban those for safety, too. I'm fairly sure that getting trampled by livestock was a fairly common cause of death for children back in the day, too, so maybe the founding fathers wouldn't be too concerned about the automobile accidents because they're probably safer than the horses and wagons they replaced. ~ Swampie
Swampie, if child automobile deaths and swimming pool deaths were 12 times higher in the USA than in 25 other industrialised countries combined I would certainly suggest that you should be doing something about it. Don't forget adults have a vote and an element of choice, children don't. They have to live, or die, in the world provided for them. ~ quedula
