I thought I’d take a political day off – mostly. I did read an interesting article yesterday in which someone threw out the radical idea of repealing the Second Amendment, AND replacing it with an amendment that is worded in a way that more accurately reflects the firearms available today. Admittedly, that is a pretty radical idea and, given the amount of money spent by the NRA and other gun industry players on buying politicians, it would be a highly unlikely happening. However, it does make a hell of lot of sense (but, then again, when did rational thought play into most political decisions?)
The Second Amendment reads, “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.” It doesn’t say anything about the type of weapons, the age at which anyone can own a weapon, the number of weapons, or anything else. It is extremely vague and, as we all know, that vagueness has allowed people to interpret these words that were ratified to the Constitution in 1791, to allow the ridiculous proliferation of all kinds of weapons into the hands of virtually every Tom, Dick and Harry in the country.
In most instances, people would agree that if you do the same thing over and over again and it doesn’t work, the rational thing to do is to try something else. The country has been struggling with the interpretation of the Second Amendment for decades and the current interpretation is clearly not doing anything to guarantee citizens the right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ when we can’t even send kids to school, go to the grocery store, go to a mall, or go to a movie theater without the fear of being gunned down. Perhaps it’s time to try a radical new approach.
As the author of this article pointed out, repealing the Second Amendment does not mean outlawing all guns or the rights of citizens to ‘keep and bear arms.’ The argument is simply that the current verbiage of the Second Amendment needs to be replaced with something that is more reflective of modern times. Repeal the current Second Amendment and replace it with a new amendment addressing firearms in America – problem solved! Rationally, it makes perfect sense. Politically, it’s probably like trying to climb Mt. Everest in a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers.
That’s enough politics for today. Nine weeks ago, I was laying in a hospital bed, recovering after they ripped open my knee to repair my existing artificial knee. The recovery continues but I am back on my bicycle, although I am pedaling about 2/3 the speed I used to pedal and my old normal of 20 to 30 miles rides is now more like 10 to 15 miles. I haven’t been able to do any serious climbing yet but I’m sure the strength will come back. However, I am thankful that I am pedaling at all and I’m hopeful that in a couple of months I will be back to ‘normal.’
I’m also back on my Harley and am gearing up for another long motorcycle trip next month. I took a test ride down to Big Sky yesterday and it all went well. I will have to stop and stretch my leg from time to time but I’m looking forward to getting on the road. I’ll be riding down to Arizona and then across to the LA area. I can’t say I’m looking forward to riding in the desert or in LA traffic, but I am looking forward to seeing some friends. The pictures below are from a recent bicycle ride and from my Hog trip to Big Sky last year (it’s just a better picture than the one I took yesterday).
