Every time a high profile incidence of gun violence makes national headlines, there is a renewed call to revisit our gun control laws. And just as predictably, there are those who raise their voices in protest, loudly proclaiming their right to bear arms. To that second group, borrowing a line from Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride: you keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.
I’m not going to focus today on how woefully inadequate our gun control laws are; plenty of other people have already done that, and the statistics are easy enough to locate. Before I address the meaning of the Second Amendment however, I’d like to cover some of the other common arguments I’ve been hearing by those who are wary of any restrictions on gun rights.