Excuse me. We are not in 1791.

Just to make it clear... Today is May 24, 2022, and not 1791. Earlier today, there was a massacre in Uvalde, Texas, at an elementary school named Robb. As I write this, one gunman killed at least 19 children and two adults. Words like sad and outraged seem insufficient. The world seems much darker tonight than the night before. 

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

An email about George Floyd had me thinking about progress earlier today... Massacre on May 14 in Buffalo, New York, targeted Blacks. Is that what we call making progress? Instead of one White police officer cruelly killing one Black man two years ago, we now have one White young man massacring to target Black lives. Progress? I must not understand that word. 

I was pondering about progress and racism when I learned about today's massacre. And, it reminded me of the Sandy Hooks Elementary School Massacre that killed 26 people. It happened 3,448 days ago. What progress have we made? None. How can we progress when we are still clinging onto intentions drafted 231 years ago? 

Yes, I am talking about the Second Amendment. Adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, it 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." 

Our rights to bear arms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights had a very clear intention. It was to provide protection and keep a check on the federal government. I am very confident that the framers of the Constitution weren't thinking they would be putting guns into the hands of these men. How are massacres targeting Blacks and children necessary to the security of a free State?

231 years ago was a very different world. For heaven sake! The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, wasn't even ratified until 1865. We are not in 1791. It is time for us to evolve and make progress from 231 years ago. It is time that this nation faces the fact that gun control is needed for the security of a free State where lives matter more than guns. 


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