In 1791, Congress passed the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution. It stated that “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.”

It was a very different time.  The country was growing as boundaries were extended. Homesteaders had to protect their families from outlaws, attacks by Indians (who were trying to keep the land that had been theirs for so long) and wild animals such as bears and coyotes.

But more importantly the ‘arms’ people had the right to keep and bear were only able to fire a limited number of rounds before being reloaded.  A muzzle-loaded rifle weighed 10 lbs., was 60 inches long, and even the most proficient marksman could fire only two to three shots in one minute. A lot of people could duck for cover in a minute.

The writers of the 2nd Amendment and the politicians who ratified it could have had no way of knowing that this same amendment would, two hundred years later, have meant that any American could have access to firepower that could mow down large groups of innocent people in very short periods of time.  Yes, it was a very different time then, and it is a very different time now.

A few days ago, here in Australia, we were horrified to hear of the massacre of 20 innocent children and 6 of their teachers. As I watched the news I contemplated the terror those innocents must have felt in their last moments. I contemplated the anguish of the families that are left to try to deal with a loss so horrific. I contemplated the relief that the parents of the survivors must be feeling.  I contemplated the effect this experience will have on those innocents who survived. I contemplated the relief of the small number of parents who possibly thanked whatever god they believe in that their child was sick that day and didn’t go to school. I contemplated the pain that a community would be going through. I contemplated the asininity of a country whose government time and time again has seen mass murder at the hands of automatic guns and yet still refuses to do anything to change the law. I contemplated the weakness of a series of governments in that country who chose to ignore this wanton destruction of life and bowed to the pressure of a vocal gun lobby.

It is a very different time now and the USA would do well to learn a lesson from the gun control measures taken by the Australian government in the late 1990s. We had our share of senseless killings: Hoddle Street, Milperra, Strathfield Plaza, Port Arthur. But the government took a stand and changed the gun laws. It initiated a gun buy-back scheme that saw many arms-bearing Australians sell their guns back to the government. Stricter gun control has meant that we have only had one major shooting incident since 1996.  The USA, however, appears to have this sort of incident far too often.

Sane, rational thought should dictate that enough is enough when small children are the victims.  Small children should be playing and eating candy and getting into mischief. Small children should be safe at school. Small children should not be dying in a barrage of bullets.  Teachers should be teaching these small children, not dying in an attempt to protect them.

It is a very different time now.  The Sioux are not scalping home-owners. Bears and coyotes are not killing the settlers and their stock. Outlaws are not riding around the Wild West, robbing everyone and rustling cattle. There is no need to ‘keep and bear arms’.  That need has long passed.

It is a very different time now. It is time for the American people to stand up to the vocal gun lobby and insist on change.  It is time for the President to do something to make a change.  It is time for him to decide that his legacy as President is to end his term of office with an America where small children are safe at school, where people can go safely about their daily business without worrying that they will be killed in a shopping centre, where people can go to a midnight screening without worrying that they might be gunned down in the cinema.

It is a very different time now. It is time to make it better.