Member-only story
Not Either/Or—the US Needs Well-Regulated Guns and Better Mental Health Care
There are two subjects I rarely write about because nothing I say will change the minds of the polarized: abortion and gun rights. But the double-punch of the Uvalde targeting of children and the Buffalo targeting of black people has made me take on the gun issue.
There’s been no major progress on regulating guns in the US for several reasons:
- If you only read the internet, you would think regulating guns is one of the US’s great taboos. It’s not. An overwhelming number of Americans support more regulations.
2. Gun extremists insist the Second Amendment prevents gun regulation. They ignore the most important part of the Second, the militia clause:
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.
Historically, militias were always regulated. They weren’t just a bunch of yahoos running around with any gun that could shoot. The Supreme Court made yet another of…
