Laws, Amendments and Corrections

Having never visited the US or indeed, anywhere outside of Europe, I have to admit that there is something that puzzles me about this far-off land. Well actually, there are many things. So many things…

But I want to focus on one question about the politics of America: in particular, gun control and the Second Amendment. The rate of gun crime in the US compared to my home country of England is quite scary. Attitudes towards gun ownership are something that I, with all my European naivety, find completely alien. And yet these are simply the innate rights of every American citizen, courtesy of the constitution. The Second Amendment quite clearly says that all Americans may own guns. This neatly brings us to my question .

So what?

I have a theory you see. I suspect that attitudes about gun control would be dramatically different if the Second Amendment was, instead of being part of the Constitution, just a regular law. Furthermore, I suspect that people are unwilling to alter the Second Amendment because they view the authority of the Constitution with far more respect than the authority of any regular law.

Let me explain myself. The Constitution represents the very principles on which America was built. A law only represents the principles of its Government. The Constitution was laid down by the Founding Fathers themselves. A law is laid down by some anonymous bureaucrat. The Constitution therefore calls our to people a patriotic level, bypassing criticism reserved for regular laws. You can’t criticise the Constitution! You would criticising the very heart of America! Akin to treason. But people seem to forget that the Second Amendment is essentially just the decision of politicians. I just don’t get what’s so special about it.

Has my attitude surrounding American politics outraged and repulsed you? Do you feel like you might be physically sick from reading this. I eagerly await your reaction below. Alternatively if you liked my article feel free to follow me for more thoughts, theories and suspicions.