Grammar Can Save Lives?!
/Are you in the mood to tackle a grammar lesson that means so much more than just understanding sentence structure? You know I live for this grammar stuff; I could diagram sentences all day long! I understand 99% of the population would prefer not to join in the activity – truly, I understand. But the intent of some sentences can be discerned only when their structure is acknowledged, and that can make a critical difference in understanding the intended meaning – a real difference to a country and even to the world. Would you take 15 minutes to explore a few sentences and learn the simple lesson I’m offering?
I have four sentences below, all constructed in similar manner, but each about a different topic. Each is followed by four simple questions – and their answers. I ask you to work through each little sample thoughtfully. At the end I’ll offer a clear, concise explanation for why, in this particular case, fidelity to the intended meaning, indicated by sentence structure, is absolutely critical to the human race. Please do this one little grammar lesson with me.
An ice-free sidewalk being necessary to the safety of our elderly residents, all nursing home sidewalks shall be cleared and salted after each snowfall.
For what reason do we clear and salt our sidewalks?
For the safety of elderly residents
Are sidewalks to be cleared and salted after rainfalls?
No. After snowfalls
Are we expected to clear and salt the sidewalks of surrounding private property?
No. Just the nursing home sidewalks
Should someone be salting the sidewalks every day of the year?
No. Just when it snows
Nutritious snacks being beneficial to growing children, students will be allowed to keep fresh fruits and vegetables in their desks.
For what reason are students allowed to have fruits and vegetables on hand?
To have a nutritious snack
Are students allowed to keep candy in their desks?
No. Just fruits and vegetables
Do students have an inherent right to sell fruits and vegetables in school?
No. They have only the right to keep them in their desks.
May students have fruits and vegetables in their lockers?
No. Only in their desks
Service dogs being necessary for the well-being of persons identified with special needs, the people’s right to own registered service dogs shall not be infringed.
For what purpose is a person allowed to own a service dog?
To address special needs
May I have a registered service dog just because I love dogs?
No. You may have one to serve special needs.
Who has the right to own a registered service dog?
People with special needs
Is my right to breed service dogs and sell them guaranteed above?
No, even if you have special needs
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
For what purpose shall the people bear arms?
To provide a well-regulated militia for the state
For what purpose shall a free state maintain an armed militia?
For the state’s security
Do I have a guaranteed right to carry a gun to the mall or to church?
No. Only to the well-regulated militia
Does this give me the right to own a gun because I love guns?
No. It gives you a right to own a gun to participate in the state militia.
Okay, you get the point, right? It is crystal clear that the Second Amendment to the Constitution gave individuals the right to bear arms for the purpose of ensuring a well-regulated militia ready to defend the state against a president-king. Our country’s founders, fresh from the War of Independence, were not sure a popularly elected president could be trusted to stay in his lane, so they provided this right to each state. Obviously, to have such a militia, the free white men in the state would have to bring a gun to training and, in the worst case, muster to fight as a militia, armed to defend their state against an unlawful king. (Today we call that militia the state’s National Guard, and its weapons are stored in an armory, not in guardsmen’s homes.)
Yes, in 2008, the Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, ruled that a citizen may possess a gun and keep it in his home, not to serve in the state’s National Guard, but for “self-defense.” In my humble opinion, that was a willful misreading of the amendment. Then, in 2022, in NY State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, the Court affirmed the right to carry a gun in public for self-defense. And so, the intent and purpose of the Second Amendment was again ignored by willfully misreading its grammatical structure. Sometimes grammar does matter. What have been the consequences?
Today that little country of 13 states simply seeking to defend themselves against a tyrant has grown to 340 million people who, collectively, possess 400-500 million guns: A gun-and-a-half for every person. The U.S. is home to 4.2% of the world’s population and 46% of the world’s guns.
On an average day in our nation, 325 people suffer gunshot wounds, and 125 of them die. If you define a “mass shooting” as four or more injured victims, we now average about 417 mass shootings each year. The leading cause of death today in American children is not measles or polio or tuberculosis; it’s firearms.
If you believe the free possession and transport of guns, willy nilly, has not made our country unsafe and unwholesome, you and I live on two different planets. (Chances are you don’t care much for sentence structure either.) Thank you for working through this little lesson with me, though. As a reward, I’m offering you two quick, easily interpreted graphics about the subjects our four sentences above dealt with: senior citizens, hungry kids, service dogs, households, and guns. No relation to sentence structure. What do you think?
If my grammar lesson has piqued the interest of just one reader, I am overjoyed. I’ve written about this topic repeatedly, and I invite you to read my previous essays:
School Shootings Can be Stopped (December 2024)
Oh, Quit Wringing your Hands (January 2023)
Flying Solo? Maybe Not (November 2022)
Want the Shooting to Stop? (July 2022)
I Oppose Gun Control (May 2022)