Nicholas Tyler
Staff Writer

We’ve all heard of the Second Amendment. Its reasonable, if somewhat antiquated, language states, “a well regulated Militia, being necessary….” But militias aren’t relevant anymore. They once were, in the days of native raids, or as a precaution against slave revolts. But we have the National Guard now. So if it’s not for hunting, and clearly not for home defense, what other need for assault rifles? The only militias today are backwoodsmen convinced of a coming showdown with the Feds – fantasy play, frankly, for stunted adults with too much income. What is the appeal of powerful weapons? Admittedly, there’s something appealing in the mystique of the stoic rifleman on the edge of the frontier, carving a republic in the wilds of a new continent — but we live in the age of the interstate. Waving a gun in public doesn’t make you more quintessentially American.