In a March 9 letter to the editor, reader KM complains that gun laws are an infringement on Second Amendment rights. That is just wrong and selfish.
Anyone who insists that the U.S.. Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms should refresh their memory of the wording 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.”
Back when it was written, yes, the new Americans absolutely needed “well-regulated militias” — as well as firearms for hunting to feed families.
But times have changed a lot since that was written. Our governments now maintain a lot of “well-regulated militias:” the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marines, the U.S. Air Force, the National Guard, as well as thousands of local and state police departments.

We don’t need untrained and ignorant and selfish and mentally ill and racist people running around shooting up schools and malls and parades and other public places and event.
We don’t need firearms laying around unsecured in homes where naive children can get them and either accidentally or deliberately kill themselves or others.
We don’t need computer programs and devices that can create “ghost guns” that can be used to create havoc and hide the identity of who made it.
Civilians do not need semi-automatic weapons designed to be used by the military to cause multiple injuries and deaths.

The Second Amendment is absolutely outdated and unnecessary and should be repealed!
I’m sure that would not be well-received by a certain contingent in Congress and in the firearms business and among a certain category of American voters, but it is a hard truth.

James Brown

Rio Rancho