Biting the Bullet

Second Amendment

Camisole de Force Series

By Jennifer Randall

Canvas, Acrylic, Bullet Tips and Shells, Brass, American Flags

Bite the Bullet Camisole de Force is sewn and lined with American Flags. The firing bullets are hand constructed and attached to the jacket, and shells are hand collected from a gun range.

"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.”

Does our ideology and literal interpretation constrain our decisions for change in the realm of gun control? Are we so controlled by fear that we stockpile guns and ammo?

Being so hyper focused on an archaic translation of the second amendment, we as a society are not open to an idea of a well regulated militia not meaning the same thing as a heavily armed citizen.

Who is entitled to regulate this ‘militia’? How is self regulation working?

With so many affected by gun violence, it seems reasonable and responsible to come up with a solution.

* More than 38,000 people died from gunshot wounds in 2016.

* More than 80,000 people survive a gunshot every year.

* An American woman is fatally shot by her partner every 16 hours.

* Only 13 states have closed the loophole that allows abusive dating partners to possess guns.

* Many mass shootings stem from domestic violence.

* States with the highest gun-ownership rates have the highest suicide rates.

* The United States has more child gun deaths than any other high-income nation.

More than 187,000 students in the United States have lived through school shootings since Columbine.