Another School Shooting in the US

[DJC]

May have been one of the reasons but the constitution was written to ensure division of governmental power and the protection of citizens from potential tyranny by the government. The second amendment  ensured "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." There is a strong argument put forward by some in the US that abolishing the right to bear arms imperils that freedom and that gun crime is part of the price for that. It does seem like an alien concept to us but I can't see it changing anytime soon, and certainly not without a massive fight. Much easier said than done.

When the second amendment was passed, "arms" were smoothbore muzzle loaders that the average Joe could fire once every 60 seconds and, with a bit of luck, hit the side of a barn at 60 paces.  While that illustrates the folly of being bound by statutes written in another time, I wonder whether it would be possible to define "arms" as "smoothbore muzzle loaders" or perhaps single shot, low powered rifles.  Many states have successfully banned assault rifles so it shouldn't be too hard.

I note that the POTUS spoke about addressing mental illness in his response but didn't mention gun control (or guns I believe).  Addressing mental illness is an important point but equally important is removing firearms that are designed specifically for human targets.