Editor:
Firearms ownership is a right and a responsibility. Most people do not want to talk about the responsibility to own firearms. Our forefathers recognized that responsibility and included it in the Constitution as part of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is a document that states that the people have certain rights that the government cannot take away.
We had just fought, and won, a war with England over government oppression. The leaders of our new country wanted to make sure that its citizens would have the power to prevent the new government from becoming as oppressive as the government of the king had been.
They recognized that private ownership of firearms was the only way that the people could protect themselves from oppressive government. The Second Amendment is not about hunting. It is about the citizens right to protect themselves from government oppression. Free men own firearms. Slaves do not.
Unfortunately, some people misuse firearms. Some people misuse cars. Some people misuse drugs and alcohol. We have laws against all of these abuses. Yet it continues.
Banning certain types of firearms will not make society any safer. Ensuring that people who commit crimes are locked up for the good of society will.
Dale Foote
Cortez