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DEAR EDITOR:
There is a difference between stopping a gunman who is shooting or about to shoot in a school and keeping a gunman from being there in the first place.
Once a gunman shows up, you have not prevented the situation. You are then in stop mode. In that case, it sometimes takes a good guy with a gun to stop him, but not always. This is what gun nuts ignore. They also ignore the so-called "right" to own a gun, any gun, is not absolute, regardless of the language used. The language in the Second Amendment has both types of "absolute" meanings. They contradict themselves. The word gun is never used. Guns have no rights -- people do. Anything can become an arm, so some believe the Second Amendment means nothing can be regulated.
We have several contradictions in our Constitution and we have had an understanding on just how to balance those contradictions. We have made changes in state laws and federal laws to change and or balance these contradictions. One has been the way we choose electors in the Electoral College, who then elect a president. State legislatures passed laws in their states to make those electors be chosen by the winner of the popular vote in an election. The state created that "right" to choose. We are seeing states now considering taking away that same right they granted.
The courts have, over the centuries, made decisions dealing with the contradictions of the Second Amendment. They have upheld restrictions on guns, in particular, because guns are not the only arm we have to arm ourselves. The Second Amendment never uses the word "gun" and by the current court's logic, that means there is no right to them. This is how they ruled on abortion -- because the word abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution.
There are so many stupid arguments of semantics in the gun issue. The dumbest is that guns don't kill, people do. Guns are designed to kill, period. That is their job. Guns don't kill, bullets do. Ban bullets, bullets are not an arm. Ammunition is not an arm. There are ways to fix this problem. First off, change laws and ban certain guns from public ownership. To do that, voters must throw out elected officials blocking such laws. Pass a new amendment updating the Second Amendment. Make it a right to the privilege to own guns when a person passes the requirements set by the government.
LEIF P. DAMSTOFT
Warren