Does the 2nd Amendment need to be abolished?

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, "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." This one sentence has sparked debate for decades, and mass shootings in America have brought our constitutional right to bear arms under attack from all directions.

Take a moment to ask yourself why most countries in the world do not let their citizens own guns. One argument is that the right to bear arms keeps a government in check — that a government would think twice before stepping on its citizens' rights or running a dictatorship using its military and police to suppress citizens who disagree with it. There are an estimated 270 to 350 million guns owned by private citizens in the U.S., a number made more shocking by the fact that it eclipses the roughly 250 million guns used in World War II.

It is my opinion that the average U.S. citizen is rather unaware of the daily degradation of our constitutional rights by a myriad of laws being passed. Consider the growing number of cameras monitoring our daily lives — look up at any intersection and you will see cameras watching you. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but there has to be a balancing act that evens the playing field.

Let's face it: criminals will get their guns illegally and bypass the system altogether, so more regulations alone will not eliminate the criminal factor. What we should focus on is keeping guns out of the hands of those who obtain them legally with an intention to harm or engage in terrorism. But how? Certainly not by usurping or curtailing the Second Amendment, but by putting mechanisms in place to eliminate access to weapons by those intending to harm others.

The only real stop-loss is at the point of sale. It is my opinion that gun store owners should be trained and equipped to make the judgment call — more training and questioning is needed at the point of sale. Unfortunately, it is hard to discern the motives of a person who looks normal, has no background issues, applies for a gun license, and passes the safety requirements. I think we should make the gun shop owner the final safety valve: if you get a bad feeling, don't sell it, and have the ability to pull the plug on the sale.

It is not military-style weapons alone that are at issue. In fact, a handgun in the possession of a trained person can be more lethal than an AR-15 in the hands of someone who has no idea how to load it. This is a debate that can make all of us chase our own tails, but we need to find a solution, as it is getting out of hand on both sides. One thing in my mind is certain: we cannot fiddle with the Second Amendment; before you know it, other constitutional rights will be usurped and curtailed. That is how rights are taken away — you open the floodgates a millimeter at a time. As JFK said, "For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty."