When the 2nd Amendment is taken to absurd lengths, this is what you get

Portland police received more than 65 calls Monday reporting that a young man was walking through the Parkside neighborhood and the Back Cove area with an AR-15-style assault weapon. Justin Dean, 24, insisted he wasn’t making any sort of statement but rather had the loaded rifle for protection while exercising his Second Amendment rights…. When police caught up to Dean on a street near his apartment, they determined he wasn’t breaking any laws and let him continue on his way. Dean said he then spent the next few hours walking to a post office to mail a letter in an outside mailbox and walking around the 3.5-mile Back Cove walking trail.

Thankfully, this took place in “the other Portland” (Portland, ME), but it would be just as stupid, dangerous, and pointless here in Portland, OR…or anywhere else. The idea that anyone should carry a “loaded rifle for protection while exercising his Second Amendment rights” is as absurd as it is ignorant of the 2nd Amendment. The NRA and the gun nuts it represents consider the 2nd Amendment to be sacrosanct and inviolate- a holy document providing carte blanche to anyone for any amount of firepower in any form. The truth is that the 2nd Amendment came about at a time when Americans needed to protect themselves on a scale far more immediate than anything we’d encounter today. And how does carrying an assault rifle through a neighborhood constitute guaranteeing “a well regualated militia?”

The 2nd Amendment was designed for the world that existed in the late 18th century. The Founding Fathers couldn’t possibly have envisioned the world we live in today. Despite all logic and reason, the gun nuts refuse to let go of their conviction that the 2nd Amendment is unalterable and should be taken literally in whatever manner they deem appropriate.

If we followed that logic, automobiles wouldn’t be allowed to move at any speed above a crawl. If we enforced laws based on 18th century context and language, this country would be a mess. Yet the NRA and their gun nut acolytes insist that the 2nd Amendment must be interpreted as broadly and as literally as they deem appropriate. To their way of thinking, Justin Dean wandering around Portland, ME, with an AR-15 on his shoulder is not only appropriate, but a necessary expression of his 2nd Amendment rights. What none of them seem willing to recognize is the potential for carnage and collateral damage should Dean feel “threatened.” Or perhaps they just consider that a “cost of doing business” when an American chooses to exercise their 2nd Amendment “rights.”

How many more innocent Americans will have to die before we get sensible and effective gun control?