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2nd Amendment and Slavery

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I’m not a gun enthusiast, I don’t think everyone should own a gun, and I sure as hell don’t think the solution to every problem is to arm more people. However I do believe in people’s right to engage in commerce freely, which includes the ability to buy drugs and guns (both of which I don’t partake in).

I recently heard someone assert that the 2nd Amendment was in part created to secure the institution of slavery, also making a point about how the Constitution can change.

– Yes, sometimes the Constitution is antiquated such as in the case of slavery. That is why the Constitution was amended: the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment were all related to this era in history in different ways.
– The 2nd Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights, which in some ways is a bit different than the mentions of slavery in the actual Constitution (which says government can’t prohibit the importing of slaves and the 3/5 compromise).
– The 2nd Amendment can change. That’s called ‘an amendment’. It’s difficult to pull off, but that was the entire point. Can you imagine the crazy stuff that would have happened over the years if it was easy to do? Simply choose whatever president you dislike and imagine what he could have done.
– Should there be a discussion of how to be safe and prevent violence? Of course. However we shouldn’t always rush to the power of government to solve every ill, as eventually government will be calling everything an ill that it wants to fix (which is very much already the case).
– I’m not saying do nothing, but doing something doesn’t just mean policy. Most of the time non-policy actions can be implemented and effect change faster, since you don’t have to wait for elections for things to change.

I am simply saying that we must think outside the box, where many solutions (most of them not necessarily obvious) are located.

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Alex Merced is a latino libertarian activist. Alex also runs the AlexMercedCast Podcast, LibertarianWingMedia,com, and is an active member of the Libertarian Party. Alex Merced is currently running for the U.S. Senate seat in New York against Chuck Schumer in 2016.
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