4 ms·

What updates does the US constitution need? I think if we were to rewrite it today it would become largely the same, maybe with a footer that says “and this tim

What updates does the US constitution need? I think if we were to rewrite it today it would become largely the same, maybe with a footer that says “and this time we really mean it”

sudosysgen 6y ago
I'd say the Second Amendment would need to be tweaked. Our gun control laws are honestly really in breach, and I think they are very sensible pieces of legislation, so we should make everything consistent.
- Alupis 6y ago
  The views of Californian's are not universally shared throughout the country.
  - ihumanable 6y ago
    You do realize that California's strict gun control laws were passed by Reagan right?
    - Alupis 6y ago
      You mean the Mulford Act - Prohibiting Open Carry in California? What does that have to do with the OP? There are many states that allow Open Carry today. The original comment stands - Californian views are not universally shared throughout the country. This is the very reason we have States in this country, each with their own government. Trying to compel people in other states to live the way you think they should, isn't right.
    - bacondude3 6y ago
      So? Who's responsible for passing a bad law doesn't make the law not-bad.
    - refurb 6y ago
      No. There have been at least a couple dozen gun control laws passed in CA since Reagan. Hell, they passed more than 5 in the last 2 years.
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    It's not just California, almost all states have some kind of gun control.
- Roboprog 6y ago
  Why can’t a state’s militia have its own military grade weapons and vehicles? Aside from the whole Civil War incident... I’m not going to argue if it’s a good or bad law, but as written, each state gets to regulate which residents get nothing more than a butter knife, or a nuke, and where the state keeps those things. Arms !== rifles.
  - sudosysgen 6y ago
    A states militia? That's one thing. It's just that it you were to interpret the 2A literally even the State levek gun control laws are out of order. The reason why a states militia would be an issue is that it's just mostly useless. States aren't allowed to meddle in foreign policy, so what would the militias do?
  - refurb 6y ago
    State militias can have their own military grade weapons. They’d just need to follow the NFA. Civilians can own things like howitzers, mortars, etc. At least at the federal level, state laws vary. Check out the Knob Creek event held every year. Tons of military weaponry, all privately owned.
krapp 6y ago
It's an eighteenth century document that can be maddeningly vague at times. A lot of people (on HN at least) seem to think it's a problem that the First Amendment only applies to Congress, letting companies like Google or Facebook censor speech as much as they like. The Second Amendment isn't even written in complete sentences, and we need a room full of scholars to figure out just what exactly they meant by "A well regulated Militia," The Third Amendment just seems absurd in the modern day. Maybe we don't need the Electoral College? Maybe the President's powers to draft executive orders and pardon people undermines the legislative and judicial branches and should be done away with, given how often they've been abused? It must be possible to have a more efficient census than through the process required by the Constitution. It should be possible, in a nation of immigrants, for an immigrant to run for President. There is no Constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. Amendments related to voting, yes, but nowhere is voting considered to be a right, as opposed to a privilege. Do we really need to explicitly make the justice system an exception to the Thirteenth Amendment and banning slavery? That's all I could think of off the top of my head, not being a constitutional scholar. But it stands to reason that a document as old as the Constitution should be updated more often than it has been.
- ed25519FUUU 6y ago
  > Maybe we don't need the Electoral College? As someone who designs distributed systems for a living, I can say very confidently that the electorate system is a very good idea indeed. Why risk the entire system if a single small part is corrupted?
  - ihumanable 6y ago
    You could still let the states run the elections and remove the Electoral College. All the redundancy with none of the downsides of the Electoral College.
    - jessaustin 6y ago
      In a simple majority system, a close result will entail a nationwide recount. With the Electoral College, recounts are only necessary at the state level. Smaller tasks are easier and faster.

What updates does the US constitution need? I think if we were to rewrite it today it would become largely the same, maybe with a footer that says “and this time we really mean it”

sudosysgen 6y ago

I'd say the Second Amendment would need to be tweaked. Our gun control laws are honestly really in breach, and I think they are very sensible pieces of legislation, so we should make everything consistent.

Alupis 6y ago
The views of Californian's are not universally shared throughout the country.
- ihumanable 6y ago
  You do realize that California's strict gun control laws were passed by Reagan right?
  - Alupis 6y ago
    You mean the Mulford Act - Prohibiting Open Carry in California? What does that have to do with the OP? There are many states that allow Open Carry today. The original comment stands - Californian views are not universally shared throughout the country. This is the very reason we have States in this country, each with their own government. Trying to compel people in other states to live the way you think they should, isn't right.
  - bacondude3 6y ago
    So? Who's responsible for passing a bad law doesn't make the law not-bad.
  - refurb 6y ago
    No. There have been at least a couple dozen gun control laws passed in CA since Reagan. Hell, they passed more than 5 in the last 2 years.
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  It's not just California, almost all states have some kind of gun control.
Roboprog 6y ago
Why can’t a state’s militia have its own military grade weapons and vehicles? Aside from the whole Civil War incident... I’m not going to argue if it’s a good or bad law, but as written, each state gets to regulate which residents get nothing more than a butter knife, or a nuke, and where the state keeps those things. Arms !== rifles.
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  A states militia? That's one thing. It's just that it you were to interpret the 2A literally even the State levek gun control laws are out of order. The reason why a states militia would be an issue is that it's just mostly useless. States aren't allowed to meddle in foreign policy, so what would the militias do?
- refurb 6y ago
  State militias can have their own military grade weapons. They’d just need to follow the NFA. Civilians can own things like howitzers, mortars, etc. At least at the federal level, state laws vary. Check out the Knob Creek event held every year. Tons of military weaponry, all privately owned.

krapp 6y ago

It's an eighteenth century document that can be maddeningly vague at times. A lot of people (on HN at least) seem to think it's a problem that the First Amendment only applies to Congress, letting companies like Google or Facebook censor speech as much as they like. The Second Amendment isn't even written in complete sentences, and we need a room full of scholars to figure out just what exactly they meant by "A well regulated Militia," The Third Amendment just seems absurd in the modern day. Maybe we don't need the Electoral College? Maybe the President's powers to draft executive orders and pardon people undermines the legislative and judicial branches and should be done away with, given how often they've been abused? It must be possible to have a more efficient census than through the process required by the Constitution. It should be possible, in a nation of immigrants, for an immigrant to run for President. There is no Constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. Amendments related to voting, yes, but nowhere is voting considered to be a right, as opposed to a privilege. Do we really need to explicitly make the justice system an exception to the Thirteenth Amendment and banning slavery? That's all I could think of off the top of my head, not being a constitutional scholar. But it stands to reason that a document as old as the Constitution should be updated more often than it has been.

ed25519FUUU 6y ago
> Maybe we don't need the Electoral College? As someone who designs distributed systems for a living, I can say very confidently that the electorate system is a very good idea indeed. Why risk the entire system if a single small part is corrupted?
- ihumanable 6y ago
  You could still let the states run the elections and remove the Electoral College. All the redundancy with none of the downsides of the Electoral College.
  - jessaustin 6y ago
    In a simple majority system, a close result will entail a nationwide recount. With the Electoral College, recounts are only necessary at the state level. Smaller tasks are easier and faster.