Militia of One

Hand grenades are regulated under the National Firearms Act (“NFA”), a federal law first passed in 1934 and amended by the Crime Control Act of 1968. The 1968 amendments made it illegal to possess “destructive devices,” which includes grenades. 

I cannot own a live grenade.  I cannot legally buy one. 

This certainly makes sense.  A single grenade has the power to kill multiple people.  The consequences are deadly. 

So why should it be legal to own an automatic rifle that can kill multiple people in a matter of seconds?  Why should an individual be permitted to own and use a military-style weapon?  

Why can an individual accumulate so much weaponry that he becomes a one-man militia? 

The men who carried out the most recent mass murders were sitting on multiple rifles, handguns, automatic pistols, cartridges, and explosives.  They intended to kill as many people as possible in a short burst of violence. The litany of one-person militias is long and violent, with myriad apparent motives: Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, Virginia Tech, San Bernadino, Sutherland Springs.

Motives are a factor. Mental health is a factor.  Political extremism and terrorism is a factor. 

 

No matter how one stands on the Second Amendment to the Constitution, one fact is clear: the United States has  the largest rate of gun ownership in the world, and the highest rate of deaths due to guns in the world.  A recent article describes the data around gun ownership and crime statistics. 

Regardless of how we interpret our right to arms, we are using guns for destruction of life at an incredibly high rate.

Our country has engaged in a 30-year debate over guns, one of the most polarizing conversations in our society.  We interpret the language of the Second Amendment in ways that buttress our own side of the debate.  Every word and comma gets parsed, even to the point of arguing what a word meant in the English language of the 1790s. 

I have friends who collect guns as a reasonable hobby.  I was raised and live in upstate New York, where hunting is a major part of life for many, particularly during fall hunting seasons.  Weaponry is maintained and kept in safe environments.

But there is a large chasm between "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms" and the ability of an individual to become a militia-of-one who can destroy many lives in seconds.  Common ground can be found.  We need the political will to find it.