Guns in the Old West

We will probably never be able to solve the gun issue in America, and we will continue to kill one another with a greater frequency than any civilized nation on Earth. We have a law, our second amendment right, so goes the cry. If people get shot to death, so be it. After all, we must obey and respect that amendment, that's what we hear over and over again. I can't help but think of all those Westerns I have seen in the past. The stranger rides into town and that's when the trouble begins. He is carrying a gun. And the sheriff says, "didn't you see the sign coming into town, stranger' No guns allowed." Clint Eastwood's The Unforgiven uses it as a plot point. Countless other films use that same confrontation for dramatic purpose. In NONE of those films did the stranger ever say, "That's a violation of the second amendment, Sheriff." This was the old West. The West we idolize. The West when "a man was a man!" Or so we proclaim. That West had prostitution, gambling, drinking, and very bawdy behavior... and yet it didn't always allow guns in town. I guess this was before the Sheriff was aware of the second amendment. Or he noticed the sentence that mentioned, "a well regulated militia," and thought that meant that there should probably be limits to guns because of the word "regulated." Perhaps they didn't really understand the sentence because they weren't as schooled as the advocates today who demand no limitations on gun ownership. They do seem to draw the line just short of guided missiles. Although I don't know why, since missiles are referred to as arms -- hence the term "the arms race." The debate will go on, but nothing will change. This is the way of our nation unfortunately. Statistics are always rolled out. And the dead don't vote. But the mourning will continue. America's killing fields always on our landscape and a death toll that shows no end in sight. There is a strange irony to this American way of life. It is the few who control the many. The many want changes to gun regulation, a better more thoughtful approach. But the few are in control. Was that the democracy the Founding Fathers had in mind' -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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