Up in arms

Dear Editor:

I enjoyed Ken Dale’s letter (“Bad guns? Bad people?” on August 9 and appreciate the inclusion of that wonderful word “shibboleth” therein.

I’m forever amazed that the gun lobby and many gun owners view the Second Amendment, ratified in 1791, as something that gives citizens the right to own just about anything, up to and including military-grade weapons, when muskets and flintlock pistols were the common arms back then.

By the time a person could load and discharge those weapons, the target could almost make it to the next city, whereas the kid in Dayton pumped out something like 30 rounds in just over 30 seconds. 

Compare that level of carnage with the gang member who went on a several-hours stabbing spree in Orange County on August 7, in which, sadly, four people died. Had he possessed a military-grade assault weapon rather than a low-tech knife, imagine how many might have been killed.

The NRA and hardcore Second Amendment folks seem to look at this in zero-sum game terms: all guns okay to own means no gun control; total gun control means all guns taken away. There really are more   nuanced solutions that could make a difference.

I cynically (and correctly) thought after the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 that if the deaths of some 20 kids didn’t usher in sanity in the gun control arena, nothing would. Meanwhile, many mass shootings later, we talk, we debate, we argue, we give our thoughts and prayers, and nothing really meaningful gets done on a national level. 

Is it any wonder, then, that some countries have chosen to issue travel advisory warnings to their citizens who are thinking of visiting America?

Don Linde

La Verne

Unconstitutional checks

Dear Editor:

Oh, I’ve said this to so many people for years: The Republicans sold out to the establishment years ago.

I begged the NRA not to support GW Bush, who was fiercely opposed to gun rights, despite rhetoric. And Obama…the less said about Obummer the better. Now President Trump is licking the jackboots by supporting clearly unconstitutional “red flag” laws. The NRA sold out years ago.

They’re all selling out. No wonder Justin Amash left the GOP. Ron Paul, a true freedom advocate, is frantic about this, and I assume Rand Paul is too (although I’m out of the country right now so am not keeping up as well as I should).

Had our God-given right to keep and bear arms been respected, these shootings that have been taking place would probably have never happened, and many innocent people would still be alive.

Anyway, please, please, please support Libertarian candidates. Please support “real” pro-gun candidates.

At the local level, the Campaign for Liberty runs some good people, too.

But please do support Libertarians. Please do not sell out to any candidate who even supports licensure or any background checks. Remember, any gun dealer can run a background check and they probably should–. But any federal or state law requiring background checks is unconstitutional on the face of it.

You don’t have to have a law degree, or even a GED, to understand the wording of the Second Amendment.

Please support Libertarians. Thank you.

Alice Lillie

Claremont