The 2nd Amendment is one of our most treasured and valuable rights, yet there are those who view it only as a “special privilege” granted to the rich and elite. That is not the case. As the Framers of our Constitution wrote it, “A well-regulated militia, necessary to the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” In layman’s terms, this means that the 2nd Amendment protects two rights: 1. The right to form a militia for common defense purposes. 2. The individual right to keep and bear arms. However, the 2nd Amendment has already been infringed. In fact, it has been purely violated, twice, by an overreaching government favoring “safety” over an inalienable, God-given right. Once, by the enactment of the National Firearms Act, on July 26th, 1934, and the Hughes Amendment of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act on May 19th, 1986. Both of these laws infringe on our right to keep and bear arms. The 2nd Amendment does not have any exceptions or restrictions on what kind or type of arms may be possessed. 
The NFA first restricted machine guns, SBRs and SBSs (Short-Barreled Rifles and Short-Barreled Shotguns), explosives, and suppressors, in response to the rise of gangsters during the Great Depression, and their ability to easily obtain so-called “military-grade” weapons that “don’t belong in civilian hands.” Suppressors do not completely silence the sound of gunfire, unlike in Hollywood’s blockbusters, instead, reducing the sound to an acceptable decibel level, protecting shooters’ hearing. Machine guns are used in 1% of all crimes in the past five decades. They are fun to shoot, and would never do any harm in a law-abiding citizen’s hands. Explosives are not only used in military applications, but can be used commercially and privately, such as in tree stump removal and controlled demolition. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns are just cosmetic.

Then, the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act was enacted in 1986. Despite granting numerous protections to gun owners regarding transporting firearms across state lines and localities, a last-minute addition by a New Jersey Democrat included that in exchange for letting the Act pass, this provision would be added: private sale, transfer, or ownership of a machine gun manufactured after May 1986 would be banned. Law enforcement, government, and military would be exempt. Machine guns made before the above date would still be available, but heavily regulated as under the NFA, with rigorous background checks, a $200 tax stamp, and relinquishing your 5th Amendment right against unlawful searches and seizures, so the ATF can inspect your property at any time.

In conclusion, my point is to make sure our right to keep and bear arms is unlimited.