Dear editor,
On Dec. 15, 1791, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving citizens the right to own and bear arms.
When written, the only long guns available were smooth-bore muskets that generally fired lead balls as large as good-sized marbles. They were notoriously inaccurate. That’s why warfare with such weapons involved opponents forming long lines facing each other and firing volleys, with hopes of a lead ball straying into a body.
Framers of the Second Amendment had no idea what would be available more than two centuries later: i.e. specialty rifles with bullet-laden magazines that are accurate for hundreds of yards and could spit out bullets in rapid fire fashion.
I do not mean to say I am not a firm supporter of the Second Amendment, but I think laws need to be tweaked to deal with death-dealing weapons such as those used in the recent spate of horrific mass shootings.
Literally millions of assault rifles and their ken are owned in the U.S. today, and are available for purchase without more than a scant background check, if that.
While the vast majority of guns are owned by citizens to whom it never would occur to use in a nefarious way, we are faced with making sure those, as the shooters in Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, N.Y., and others, are prevented from leaving lifeless bodies lying in their wake.
I am a Republican and a gun-owner, though not of an assault rifle, and I am convinced that steps should be taken immediately to stop the violence that has left our society numbed and grief-stricken.
When I watched the photographs of the students killed in Uvalde stream across the TV screen Wednesday evening, my eyes filled with tears.
Their beautiful faces beamed with pride as they showed their A-B certificates
Anyone who is not affected by those images must be sub-human.
Mine may be a small voice in the wilderness, but I plead with Congress, and Republicans in particular, to get off their duffs and do something meaningful to “stop the violence.” The Australians and the British did, so can we.
Bob Johnson
Humboldt, Kan.
