Let's Amend the Second Amendment

     If we want a balance between protection from random gun violence and our right to bear arms, we need to amend the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. We should not repeal the Second Amendment. It is part of the Bill of Rights for good reasons. It has caused foreign enemies to have second thoughts about invading our country, and is part of the checks and balances of our system of government. An armed citizenry helps prevent a government from becoming too powerful.
     The problem with the Second Amendment is that it is worded so vaguely that it prevents us from enacting gun control laws that actually protect us from random shootings: "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 courts have traditionally focused mostly on our right to keep and bear arms, and focused much less on the "well regulated Militia" part of the amendment. Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, copyright 1993, gives three senses of the word "Militia:"

1. a body of citizens enrolled for military service, and called out periodically for drill but serving full time only in emergencies.
2. a body of citizen soldiers, as distinguished from professional soldiers.
3. all able-bodied males considered by law eligible for military service.

     The first two senses describe our National Guard units, Civil Air Patrols and armed forces reserve units. These organizations are well regulated. The militia described in Webster's third sense is not regulated. Our unregulated militia is comprised of drug dealers with pistols in their waistbands and disturbed men who use firearms to settle grudges with authority figures. These people do nothing to serve the purpose of the Second Amendment, which is to provide for "the security of a free State."
     If our courts continue to rule that it is unconstitutional to regulate our militias, we must replace the Second Amendment with one that is more clear and specific. A workable system might be similar to what is used in Switzerland. All Swiss males of military age are required to keep a rifle and be ready to report for duty in an emergency. The Nazis invaded every country in Western Europe except Switzerland.
     We would not have to require anybody to have a firearm, but we could require anyone who wants to own a gun to be a member of a well regulated militia. This would mean serving in a National Guard unit, sheriff's posse or a police auxiliary. If a person is not eligible to serve in one of these organizations, or not interested in doing so, he would not be eligible to own a gun. An individual would be able to use his gun for hunting when not on duty. This would provide the security that the authors of the Bill of Rights intended. To keep a check on the federal government, a new amendment should specify that these militias could not be federalized. Membership in a militia would not exempt an individual from the draft, but the government could not call National Guard units for duty overseas.
     I propose something like this:

Whereas a well regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free State, any person enrolled in a well regulated militia shall have the right to keep and bear arms, and the federal government shall not call any militia of the people to duty outside of the borders of the United States.