in terms of changing the american constitution, what is required? here we need to have a referendum. to pass it has to have a double majority (majority of the voters in the country as a whole and a majority of the states).
are you gun lovers worried that obama will rid the country of 'its right to bear arms'? i've always been fascinated as to why you all love this right so much. i mean, come on. guns are created for one purpose, to kill people and/or things - which begs the question, why are so many people shot and killed in the us in comparison to countries that don't have this 'right'?
and alex, i'm asking for a sensible response, not some 'i'll get you with my gun cause i'm tough, let's post a picture to prove it' type of comment like you've been professing of late.
Amending the Constitution:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
As for the gun crime thing, one thing you need to bear in mind is our population. Australia's total pop isn't much more then the NYC metro area (19mil to 18mil). Homicides with firearms were 11,566, out of 17,034, with a population of 300mil(80/sq mile), a rate of 3.9/100k:5.6/100k for the US. In your neck of the woods, homicide with firearms were 48 out of 279, for a rate of 0.25/100k:1.5/100k with a population of 19mil(6.7 sq/mile). Now, by the raw look of that, you have a point.
But some areas are also insanely packed in, imagine if the whole pop of Aussieland lived within 10 miles of Melbourne, because that's about what NYC is like. Like California, that was 1850(2500) of them, they have fairly strict gun laws, but a lot of criminals. Same with NY, another 330(874)[They're more creative with their murders, I guess]. My state has the least restrictive gun laws in the country(open carry is permitted, CCW permits are shall issue except for felons, no state restrictions of transfers, etc.), we had 7(18). FYI, notation is firearm(total).
Like I've said before, a lot of foreigners look at the US as a whole, but that makes about as much sense as looking at Europe as a whole. Yes, we have a mostly shared language and baseline culture, but circumstances in the various states are nearly as disparate as they are among countries. Federal laws make up a small proportion of things, most things are left to individual states, as it should be. The US was
supposed to function much like the EU does, with the addition of a shared military force. But 200+ years of federal powermongering, and you can see what you get.
