Throughout history, change has taken place. It is inevitable; absolutely nothing ever stays the same, from the tiniest microscopic atom to the universe.
Look into the mirror, or at your child, and marvel at the changes time has influenced — the evidence is very compelling.
Change not only impacts the physical, but also ideas and philosophical beliefs.
The Constitution of the United States is over 240 years old. When the framers crafted this document the world and the United States were different places altogether.
This nation was in survival mode from tyranny. Hence the creation of the Second Amendment.
There is no denying that during that space in time the applicability and force of its intent was logical and on solid ground.
That is not the case today.
The Second Amendment must be repealed because it is harming the citizens it swore to protect — the weak and defenseless.
If we subscribe to the fact that humans are vulnerable and subject to mistakes, logic dictates that changes must be made.
Our Founding Fathers were no different. They made laws for the times because they did not have a crystal ball to look into the future.
And while their intentions were admirable at the time, they had no forethought of the creation of killing machines such as an AR-15, automatic firearms, silencers and the like, nor the mental instability of individuals.
Therefore, the burden to carry out their true mission on keeping this nation safe falls on our shoulders, whether we like it or not.
Our forefathers had no idea that someday, based on a person’s “right” to own a firearm, an individual without cause or justification would walk into a school and murder defenseless men, women and children. They had no thoughts of a sniper from a vantage point would murder people enjoying a concert, or a disturbed person gun down innocent people at work for a media station, nor shoot those praying in a church, or more recently at a gaming event in Florida, and just a few days ago the Walmart in El Paso and Ohio murders.
These scenarios continue year after year and decade after decade, yet we do absolutely nothing to stop them except talk.
Annually 2.6 million Americans die for a variety of reasons: Heart disease, cancer and respiratory problems being the top 3. Also, between 40,000 and 35,000 people die on our roadways. In all of these cases, society and government has spent millions if not billions of dollars towards safety and prevention.
Yet no such effort is forthcoming regarding the use of firearms. In 2015 approximately 37,000 people in the U.S. died by firearms, of that number firearms was used in over 8,000 murders. There are more firearms murders in the U.S. in one day than in one year in Great Britain.
Why is that? It’s because Great Britain has strict gun laws. This common-sense approach is something we should emulate, and we can start by repealing the Second Amendment.
Do not let the National Rifle Association fool you into thinking that more guns are better in reducing violence. They are not. Less guns, stricter laws and enforcement are the answers to gun violence, and the sooner we understand that simple concept the better.
The sooner our politicians get out from under the stronghold of the NRA the better. And the sooner the American Civil Liberties Union takes a strong position against gun violence irrespective of the Bill of Rights, the safer America will be.
The Second Amendment must be repealed today, for the sake of future generations and to save yet-to-be victims of senseless gun violence.
“Be the change you want to see” by contacting you senator and/or representative. Be proactive and demand that the Second Amendment be repealed.
We cannot and must not wait any longer.
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Darryl D. Perry is a Lihue resident and retired chief of the Kauai Police Department.
