All for gun control

To the Editor:

We've been hearing a lot about gun control over the years (especially in the last couple of months after the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut) and I am all for it.

Let's recap what the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights states: "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." Okay, a well regulated militia.

If an American believes the word "militia" means an individual has the right to bear arms and to form a militia consisting of one, then that individual's right should be well regulated.

If an American believes the word "militia" is referring to the National Guard (citizen's militia) or the police then these two groups should be well regulated too.

If an American believes the word "militia" means a group of Americans coming together to form a "citizen's army" against the government (wouldn't that be treason?), then they too shall be well regulated.

No matter how you view the Second Amendment, the intention of our Forefathers was to have well regulated militias that could be called upon for the security of each free state. I'm pretty sure "well regulated" doesn't mean hardly any rules, laws, or regulations. My common sense tells me it means the opposite.

Foreign and domestic violence: We The People are to be protected against both as implied in the US Constitution. Article IV, Section 4 of the US Constitution demands: "The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence."

It doesn't appear that the United States is asking the militias of each free state to rise up violently against the state (or federal) if you don't like the people running it and/or to instill your own form of government.

Is it considered domestic violence when a militia (regulated or not) within the free state decides one day to violently rise up against it? I believe so. The United States guarantees us that We The People shall be protected against foreign and domestic enemies.

Our Forefathers gave us citizens the First Amendment where we could use our speech, our right to peaceably assemble, and our right to list our grievances to get our point across that we don't like the people running the state or federal government.

Only fringe Americans are stating otherwise! Nowhere in the US Constitution or the Bill of Rights does it give permission for a domestically violent takeover of the local/state/federal government by The People.

Thankfully there are many gun owners (and non-gun-owners) in America who believe it's time for some common sense gun control. No one is going to take your current guns away.

Anyone claiming this to be true is lying. Unless you've committed domestic violence against another person and are now a felon, your right to own a gun has been infringed upon. Everyone else is exempt.

"A well regulated Militia....right of the people to keep and bear arms....shall not be infringed."

It's time for longer waiting periods, stricter background checks (that should involve the questioning of family members of the person wanting to purchase a gun for his or her mental stability), longer and more thorough background checks (instead of minutes it should be increased to a six-month period), insurance on all guns, and certain types of guns should be abolished from being sold in the United States and around the world.

Well regulated. I love the idea of it. I'm so glad our Forefathers had this foresight. Anyone who skips over that part of the Second Amendment is someone who shouldn't be trusted.

Terrorist groups around the world are not well regulated. Heck, they don't want to be regulated and they're not! They're perfectly happy going rogue and thumbing their finger at civilized societies. Americans are not barbarians so let's stop acting like it. Okay?

We don't want to live in a Police State where every home and building is guarded like a fortress. That isn't freedom. Our Forefathers wanted us to have freedoms and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but they also demanded the militia must be well regulated. Civilized people are okay with this fact.

Kim Waite

South Paris