This is what gun-mad America would look like if they'd never changed their Amendments

The gun debate exists in a curious vacuum where logic, science and evidence are utterly absent. Every single piece of data, every single chart shows that the US is an extreme outlier when it comes to gun deaths. Quite simply; lots of guns around means lots of gun deaths. Guns do not make people safer. The US has a staggering 59 times as many gun deaths per 100,000 people than the UK.

But nothing changes. And one of the chief reasons is a widespread dogmatic belief that 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” - cannot possibly be altered.

It is an unchangeable right. Right? Wrong. It’s called an amendment. Amend it. It happens regularly. In fact, if it didn’t happen regularly, America today would be an incredibly different place.

Here’s a list of all of the stupid things that would still be happening in the US today if you genuinely couldn’t change the amendments.

Slavery is still legal

13th Amendment (1865): Abolishes slavery, and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

Soldiers can be posted in your house at any time

3rd Amendment (1791): Places restrictions on the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent, prohibiting it during peacetime.

You can be searched for no reason

4th Amendment (1791): Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause as determined by a neutral judge or magistrate.

You cannot vote if you are black or hispanic

15th Amendment (1870): Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

You are not entitled to a jury trial

6th Amendment (1791): Protects the right to a fair and speedy public trial by jury, including the rights to be notified of the accusations, to confront the accuser, to obtain witnesses and to retain counsel.

7th Amendment (1791): Provides for the right to trial by jury in certain civil cases, according to common law.

You cannot vote if you are a woman

19th Amendment (1920): Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex.

You cannot vote unless you are over 21

26th Amendment (1971): Prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, eighteen years of age or older, to vote on account of age.

You can legally own a minigun, which can fire 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute

It is one of the most deadly infantry weapons ever designed and, as the second amendment has not been amended, perfectly legal today.

You can legally own a grenade launcher

All the explosions you want for around $3,000. Again, perfectly legal, since the second amendment remains in place.

(Images: Rex/Getty)