Imagine having just emerged victorious from a revolutionary war against an arrogant, oppressive, imperial state. Imagine living in a situation fearing that the oppressor might reappear, re-armed, a situation where it was necessary to add an amendment to the new-fangled constitution stating that: '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.'
Would we not agree? As we know, in 1791 such an amendment was added to the American Constitution of 1787. In The Glorious Cause, Robert Middlekauff makes it clear that state militias were probably the lowest level of military that could then be mustered: ill-disciplined, ill-uniformed, ill-fed and, worst of all, ill-trained, which would make the bearing of arms by such a militia a trifle daunting.
Fortunately, not every one was caught up in this ragged militia, so not everyone was moved by the second amendment until, a few months later, The Militia Acts of 1792 conscripted every 'free able-bodied white male citizen' into state militias. This also required each one to procure 'a good musket or firelock' plus bayonet and ammunition.
Fifty years ago I remember being amused by the Kingston Trio singing Goober Peas depicting the Georgia Militia during the American civil war as a carefree lot, 'sitting in the shadows underneath the trees', dressed in 'rags and fleas', rhyming with said 'goober peas', that is, peanuts. Such folk music traditions suggest that the state militias had not advanced very much regarding discipline, uniform or food in 70 years.
It was not because of uniforms, food or even discipline that the National Rifle Association was founded soon after, in 1871, but to improve the deplorable training. Union records of the Civil War showed that over 1000 shots were fired for every Confederate soldier hit. True or not, we are far more aware of the rise and rise of the NRA, which now claims to be the oldest civil rights organisation in the US, upholding the citizen's right to bear arms even though anyone who read the Second Amendment knew it was for state militias, which were formalised in 1903.
It was not until 2008 that the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own a gun for personal use but now informal militias had developed to fight against the 'current world order'. The last vestiges of discipline or training have effectively disappeared. Guns are as easy to obtain as candy. I have been unable to confirm a radio report that there are as many guns among the population as there are people but I am tempted to believe it.
What can be confirmed is the number of gun massacres suffered by US citizens. Depending how these atrocities are listed, there have been at least ten in the last ten years, and all committed by young men who had easy access to weapons, many committing suicide as their last act. The recent massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, is still in the news.
The NRA reaction has usually been to keep a low profile in the wave of public reaction, then continue business as usual. This time, NRA executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre responded within a few days. He said the response to 'a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun', so the national solution is to supply all American schools with more guns in the form of armed police officers. This would cost approximately $6 billion, without training, of course. LaPierre blamed the latest massacre on Hollywood films, computer games, prevalence of mental illness and all the features of modern society that every other country has, although without such dire consequences, because the one feature of America that he omitted was access to guns. Apparently, a remarkably similar incident took place in China at about the same time as the Sandy Hook incident with the key exception that the weapon was a knife. Every knife victim survived. 27 died at Newtown, Connecticut.
Of the recent gun crimes in America most will be no more than statistics but Gabby Giffords, Arizona congresswoman, and 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton who performed at President Obama's Inauguration, have made headlines. Then in his State of the Union address, the President made a start on the long haul to gun control: universal background checks for gun owners and a ban on military style assault weapons.
Please give us goober peas instead.