Gunning for Change

If today's high school students were required to take Civics classes--which teach how our constitutional government functions--such as prior generations of school kids had to, they would be better prepared to pursue their quest for "gun control." The very term presents a stumbling block, as the definition of such a regulation is open to widely varying interpretations.

I marched against the Vietnam War until Amendment 26 was passed.

At the present moment we are mired in the understandable emotion following the horror and trauma of February's Parkland school massacre. The Florida teenagers have made great strides in keeping national attention focused on the issue of gun violence and the demand for changing the Second Amendment. Even a retired Supreme Court justice has weighed in on the need to repeal the Second Amendment.

I hate to be a wet blanket (because I was once a teenager with a cause, too), but repeal of the Second Amendment is a non-starter. According to the U.S. Constitution, that action would require passage in three-quarters of the 50 states. Can anyone come up with a viable list of 38 states willing to go along with that idea? States like Wyoming, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas--really? Not in this lifetime. So what are these impassioned, energized, highly motivated high schoolers to do?

Focus on state regulations, kids. States have the power to limit and/or amend gun laws. You've already had great success in your home state of Florida. Good for you! Do what works. That's where this argument belongs, in the individual states. That's where your cause has the greatest chance to make a real difference.

That's what any smart Civics class teacher would tell you.