Opinion: Second Amendment may be a target

First published in The Madera Tribune, on Friday, Jan. 11, 2013.

A lot of people are interested in gun control these days, as well they might be, given the demonstrations of certain guns’ murderous efficiency to which we have been subjected in the past few weeks.

Calls for gun control, followed by the defensive postures of pro-gun lobbyists such as the National Rifle Association, become almost automatic. Before long, though, unless more killings are committed with guns, the noise dies down on both sides, and little seems to change. This time, that may not be the case.

The president of the United States is showing an interest in pushing for gun control, and he seems to have some backing from Congress, although it remains to be seen whether today’s verbal support will be followed by votes that would drop the Second Amendment from the Constitution, or alter it.