U.S. citizens who are fond of citing the Second Amendment to the Constitution like to focus on its second part, past the comma, which states, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” To infringe means to break or act against a rule or agreement.

The entire amendment reads: “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.” Ah. So, what is a militia, exactly? Here is the respected Oxford American Dictionary on that question: “Militia: a military force, especially one consisting of civilians trained as soldiers and available to supplement the regular army in an emergency.”

So, according to the second Amendment, if we Americans create a military force of civilians and train them as soldiers to they can supplement the regular army in an emergency, then we should not infringe their right to bear arms.

What about all those other Americans who are not a part of this auxiliary military force? You know, the ones who leave loaded weapons lying around their homes so their children can play with them, those who shoot into houses as they drive down the street, the ones who shoot someone to settle an argument. The ones who load up their homes with high-powered military weapons and go into schools or churches and kill whoever they can?

Many Americans argue that the Second Amendment also applies to these people, too. This must a huge militia. I wonder who is in charge of regulating it.

We know who is in charge. The National Rifle Association is so concerned about protecting the rights of gun owners, it pays millions of dollars to the regulators, members of Congress, to buy their votes. This is how it works. Our representatives, prostituted by the process, vote to make it easy for virtually everyone to own and carry guns. The NRA’s bribery works.

Do you think we should pass a law making it illegal for an elected representative to accept any contributions from the NRA? Surely that would help cut back on the killings of citizens, which we all claim to deplore. We especially hate to see the children die. Do we think such a law has a chance? Well, no, not yet, not as long as Republicans are in charge of regulating that militia.

But there is an election coming. Do we have the courage to make a change?