LETTER: Change the Second Amendment

The Second Amendment has been in the news for a long time. It says that because a well-regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. It does not say anyone who wants a gun can have one. It says it is necessary for private ownership of guns as part and parcel of a well-regulated militia.

What is the difference? In January 2021, a well-regulated militia, the Capitol police, engaged violent rioters who had the stated intention to hang the vice president. One rioter died as a direct result of this confrontation.

Fifty-two years ago, a well-regulated militia, the National Guard of Ohio, killed four anti-war protesters. This occurrence was so aberrant that a Canadian citizen wrote a famous song about it.

In the past 20 years alone, there are seven events in which a random assailant, not a member of a well-regulated militia, killed more than 20 people. It happened most recently in Uvalde, but also two other times in Texas, once in Las Vegas and one time in Virginia, Connecticut and Florida.

The Second Amendment needs to be changed so that gun ownership is limited to those with the training and knowledge of when and how to use a gun. Not just anyone with a desire to kill his fellow humans.