Skateboarding is a Second Amendment Right

You need skills to have freedom

The Second Amendment is the only part of the constitution, that gives a reason for granting the right.

Freedom of speech is unconditional. Freedom of religion and press are unconditional. They require not justification.

The second amendment is self aware, in that it sort of acknowledges: letting everybody carry around weapons is a little bit crazy, ain't it?

Well, so they provided a reason why we should let people carry around dangerous weapons. Here is the text of the second amendment:

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.

When we say “well regulated” that means we want people who have skills and discipline. Nothing teaches skills and discipline better than skateboarding. Skateboarders understand you need to integrate something into your daily habits and routine to really get good at it.

Because they provided a reason why they are giving people the right to walk around with weapons here: it’s so you can practice your skills all the time and actually be a useful member of society, they were also careful to specify two other things:

• The second amendment applies to all citizens: “the people”. You could argue this applies to all lawful residents as well.

• “shall not be infringed”. Yes, we are only granting you this crazy right, because we want you to practice your skills so you can be a useful member of society. But we don’t want to attach conditions to it either.

The Second Amendment is about Skill Development, Not Self Defense Or Political Resistance

Self defense is a good thing and rightfully recognized by many laws, especially state laws. But it’s not mentioned in the second amendment. The second amendment also isn’t directly about political checks and balances.

The concern is that we can face enemies who have better training programs and start earlier in life. In a free country, people can’t be conscripted to be trained from a young age to be Olympic gymnasts or wrestlers. In a free country, we can’t force people to serve in the military unless there is a clear and present need.

Well, we recognized that without coercive training programs, people still need to get skills somehow, and decided that voluntary self directed training is the best way. So the second amendment also reflects the American attitude towards training: self directed training is important. Give people freedom and responsibility for themselves.

Why Skateboards Should Be Considered “Arms” and Protected By The Second Amendment

The word “arms” loosely implies weapons. But I think there is a case to argue that it can be more generally thought about as a dangerous tool.

Skateboards are definitely a dangerous tool.

More importantly, they develop important and beneficial skills.

I have not really ever owned or carried firearms. I affirm that the second amendment gives us the right to do so in many public settings. I am extremely fortunate in that I have not really felt a need to focus on that specific skill.

But I ride bicycles, skateboards, and unicycles when I can. I am not particularly good at skateboarding in particular, but I think it is a more accessible and useful activity than many realize. It’s not about doing specific tricks, but learning to deal with risk while learning skills and pushing your comfort zone. Skateboarding is such a good way to do this, because even very basic things tend to be very challenging, especially for beginners.

I think that skill development and being healthy is incredibly important. This is something that is reflected in our legal and cultural tradition in the United States as well as other countries.