Most Americans believe that every person has the right to own arms, from a pistol to an AR-15 style rifle. Indeed, we lead the world in not only the number of guns per person, but the number of people who die from fire arms.

For example, here is a chart that shows how guns are distributed across the United States. They are not distributed evenly. As you can see, there are just a few states that hold on to the top spots in the race to buy and register guns. The data I am showing you is only registered guns. I don’t have data on unregistered fire arms.

Note that a few states are at the top of the leaderboard for registering guns. I am still determining how many additional unregistered firearms are in the United States. This graph is known as a process chart. It’s a way of assessing the variation of a variable (number of guns per state). Using the average number of firearms per state as the middle blue line (103,770), we can then calculate the UCL: Upper Control Limit=116,607 and the LCL: Lower Control Limit=90,933. Leading the states in gun ownership is Texas, followed by California, Florida, Virginia, and so forth. At the lower end of the graph, leaders are Delaware, Vermont, Hawaii, North Dakota, Maine, and Nebraska.

Guns in the States

The graph in Figure 1 does not tell us the percentage of people in each state who own guns. Some states, such as Texas, California and Florida have more people within their borders than states like Delaware, Vermont and North Dakota. The question now is what percentage of people in a given state own guns? Figure 2 is a graph that will help us answer that question. This graph gives you the percentage of people in each state that own guns. In Montana, more than 66.3 % of adults own guns. Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho, and West Virginia follow right behind Montana. On the other end of the chart, Massachusetts and New Jersey have the lowest percentage of people owning guns (14.7 %).

According to the World Population Review, both Massachusetts and New Jersey have some of the strictest gun ownership laws in the United States. Obtaining a permit or license required to even purchase a gun in these states can take weeks and is relatively rigorous. However, Massachusetts also consistently has one of the lowest gun fatality rates in the United States. It is important to understand gun control is determined primarily by each state. States that have very strict gun laws tend to have less numbers of people killed by guns.

Georgia

Where I live (Georgia), 49.2 % of fellow citizens own guns. And, this year, our governor (Brian Kemp), who touted a rifle aimed at a young boy who was interested in dating Kemp’s teenage daughter in a 2018 primary election commercial, signed into law a bill that will allow anyone to carry a concealed handgun in public without a license from the state (Senate bill 319). Other states have passed similar laws. Kemp calls this a “constitutional carry” law that says any person has the right to carry a gun without a paper from the state. This is reckless, and with our history of mass shootings in schools and churches, I have wonder what people like Kemp think when they see grieving parents suffering from a loss more profound than we can imagine.

Gun Backers

The United States is hopeless when it come to regulating guns. The Second Amendment has been misinterpreted in such a way, that there are more guns in the United States than there are people. The backers of the Second Amendment include the Republican caucus across the country, the National Rifle Association, the gun manufacturing industry, gun and pawn shops, and even some retail stores. Here is how the relationship between the Second Amendment and Guns are portrayed in our society. People line up at rallies, wear arms, and spout phrases such as “gun free zones (like schools) are killing kids.” Or how about this one, “Armed victims live longer.” Neither of these phrases is based on facts, and they ignore the horrendous killings of young children and teenagers who attend school to learn, not to be murdered. Only in our country is this statement true.

Guns are entrenched in our society. A colossal evil that continues to grow with virtually no limits. And why? Because of the way that the Second Amendment is interpreted. Joseph George Caldwell, in an article published recently on Medium, explains the nature of the Second Amendment. Caldwell says that the only civilians allowed to bear arms should be the national guard.

Well Regulated Militia

The national guard is a “well regulated Militia.” The Amendment says only the militia should have the right to bear arms. As Caldwell points out, if the writers of the Constitution wanted everyone in the country to bear arms, they would have said so. They didn’t. With this in mind, here is the Second Amendment. Notice “a well regulated Militia” are the first four words. The writers of the 2nd Amendment would have left these four words off the 2nd Amendment if they wanted every Tom, Dick and Harry to carry a gun.

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.

The Original SECOND AMENDMENT

Here is the 2nd Amendment revised. It’s the revision that many Republicans and the NRA use to make America a gun society.

Being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of all folks to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Revised second amendment—the way the nra wants us to believe

The mass shootings that happen almost on a daily basis in the United States. This is the result of the proliferation of unregulated arms. Last week, an 18 year old Salvador Ramos walked into a gun store and purchased an AR-15 rifle. He used it to murder nineteen students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

I don’t know how we can change this trajectory of unregulated gun control. Some have. It we don’t, then the slaughter of innocent people, including children at school and their teachers, will continue in the United States.