We tolerate language in our Constitution that has aided gun violence since the founding. The Second Amendment gave the Founders easy access to a “well-regulated militia” when needed to “protect the State.”

What the state needed to be protected from is not clear. Independence was won from the British. What remained was to fulfill the goal of Manifest Destiny for which the Second Amendment became the sacred text.

It helped turn this doctrine into a policy of genocide against the native population by promoting armed settlers to “win the West” and prosper from land stolen from native people. It helped sustain slavery and continues to arm racist militants.

It has made America the most gun-violent nation in the world. It has armed the gun lobby with inordinate power to promote more guns to make communities safer. Repealing it would open the door to regulation needed to save lives.

Arthur Mersereau

Manoa

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