We should not be intimidated by the Second Amendment

The NRA constantly wraps itself in the Second Amendment when any effort to place restrictions on guns is mounted. In getting effective gun control for this country, we should not be intimidated by the Second Amendment. After the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, Walter Shapiro wrote in Salon:

Looking at the Bill of Rights with more than two centuries’ hindsight, it is simply irrational that firearms have a protected position on par with freedom of speech and religion. Were Americans — liberal or conservative — writing a Constitution completely from scratch today, they probably would agree that something akin to “freedom to drive” was more far important than the “right to bear arms.” The rights of state militias (which many liberal legal theorists argue is the essence of the Second Amendment) are as much a throwback to an 18th century mind-set as restrictions on quartering soldiers in private homes during peacetime (the little-remembered Third Amendment).

In his article, "Repeal The Second Amendment" (which he points out is a daunting task), Mr. Shapiro provides plenty of food for thought which applies to our latest massacres as well as the Virginia Tech massacre.