Teething, Walking and...Shooting?

Well, I overstate the case. The tot doesn't actually have possession of his gun...yet.

The great state of Illinois (my home state) has issued a Firearms Owner Identification Card...to a 10-month old.

Howard Ludwig, the baby's father, is a columnist with a local paper. His column on the subject is charming and self-deprecating. One almost is able to forget how utterly disturbing the idea of issuing firearms IDs to toddlers is.

I'm not sure how I feel about guns, at times. I've lived abroad, in places where there are few guns, and I rather enjoyed it. At the same time, I'm too much a student of American history to ignore how integral the Second Amendment is to this country.

I also can appreciate the arguments that:

• The Constitution was written before Saturday night specials and automatic weapons were invented
• We don't need to hunt for food any more, when most of us can go down to the Social Safeway and stalk our red meat from behind a couple of Georgetown University students
• The contest between deer and semi-automatic hunting rifle is not exactly a fair fight, so why anyone would derive pleasure from such a hunt is a bit unexplicable

Then there is the premise that a well-armed citizenry/militia is essential for defending ourselves in the event that the government gets a little dictatorial and carried away.

I can see it now. A well-organized group of armed citizens stomping up to the White House and telling Shrub they're taking back the country he has run into the ground.

I'm sure the Secret Service will be interested in their Consitutional Rights. After the citizens are all gunned down and called traitors.

So, one might argue the entire basis of the Second Amendment is a joke.

Which begs the question of why we still need it, then? After all, we as a country also came to the momentous conclusion that African Americans were, in fact, worth more than 3/5 of a person. We are capable of shifting with the times.