To: President Donald Trump, The Washington State House, The Washington State Senate, Governor Jay Inslee, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Repeal of Second Amendment
The Second Amendment's clause providing for "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" should be repealed. It should be replaced with language tasking public safety and enforcement agencies to also serve as an armed militia in times of strife, and that this duty shall be subject to both meaningful regulation and strict control.
Why is this important?
Citizen Right to Bear Arms
The Second Amendment made sense 225 years ago, but is no longer functioning as intended. The founders were concerned about British retribution and the tyranny of the central government. The amendment has now clearly outlived its original meaning. The founders did not intend or envision that every citizen should have the ability to amass and store the kinds of deadly weapons available today. The theoretical risk that the central government might assault the People must be weighed against the actual fact that many of our unbalanced citizens have and are continuing to assault the People, including Children. In the last 45 years, 400,000 US citizens have been murdered by other citizens using firearms, virtually the same number as US deaths during all of World War II. There is a clear and present danger due to the increasing frequency of such events, and particularly the rising number of victims during each event.
Public Safety and Militia
Political communities such as cities, counties, states and certain special agencies should retain exclusive authority to possess weapons to enforce laws and ensure public safety. They can be tasked also with serving as a militia on behalf of the people during times of strife.
Enforcement
Upwards of 300 million guns are currently in circulation. Passing these Second Amendment changes would in theory make criminals of all who possess them. It would not be practical to try to collect all these weapons. Therefore under this proposal, people now legally licensed to own a gun would be grandfathered in. However, the government would appropriate a substantial amount of money to initiate a gun buyback program aimed at purchasing as many legally held guns as possible. In addition, the government would allocate resources to confiscate guns held by those without legal authorization to do so.
Summary
Therefore the Second Amendment's prescription on "the right to the People to keep and bear arms" should be repealed, and replaced with a provision calling for public safety agencies to be tasked with serving also as a ready militia on behalf of the People in times of strife, and that these militia should be "well-regulated" in a meaningful sense, and strictly controlled. Civilians should be allowed to join militia in times of strife.
The Second Amendment made sense 225 years ago, but is no longer functioning as intended. The founders were concerned about British retribution and the tyranny of the central government. The amendment has now clearly outlived its original meaning. The founders did not intend or envision that every citizen should have the ability to amass and store the kinds of deadly weapons available today. The theoretical risk that the central government might assault the People must be weighed against the actual fact that many of our unbalanced citizens have and are continuing to assault the People, including Children. In the last 45 years, 400,000 US citizens have been murdered by other citizens using firearms, virtually the same number as US deaths during all of World War II. There is a clear and present danger due to the increasing frequency of such events, and particularly the rising number of victims during each event.
Public Safety and Militia
Political communities such as cities, counties, states and certain special agencies should retain exclusive authority to possess weapons to enforce laws and ensure public safety. They can be tasked also with serving as a militia on behalf of the people during times of strife.
Enforcement
Upwards of 300 million guns are currently in circulation. Passing these Second Amendment changes would in theory make criminals of all who possess them. It would not be practical to try to collect all these weapons. Therefore under this proposal, people now legally licensed to own a gun would be grandfathered in. However, the government would appropriate a substantial amount of money to initiate a gun buyback program aimed at purchasing as many legally held guns as possible. In addition, the government would allocate resources to confiscate guns held by those without legal authorization to do so.
Summary
Therefore the Second Amendment's prescription on "the right to the People to keep and bear arms" should be repealed, and replaced with a provision calling for public safety agencies to be tasked with serving also as a ready militia on behalf of the People in times of strife, and that these militia should be "well-regulated" in a meaningful sense, and strictly controlled. Civilians should be allowed to join militia in times of strife.