Right to bear arms not individual's

To the Editor:

Thank you, Kim Waite, for your excellent letter to the editor in the Advertiser Democrat, dated January 21, 2013, regarding gun control.

As Kim suggests, the wording of the Second Amendment to our Bill of Rights gives the right to bear arms to a well-regulate militia. At that time, during the Revolutionary War, our country was in great peril, and our forefathers therefore understood the great necessity for this amendment.

In this era, that right is given to our well-regulated militia, the National Guard, to provide for our national defense.

Nowhere in the amendment is this right to bear arms given to the individual for any reason. One person is not a militia.

Ironically, while pursuing their misguided and deceptive agenda, the NRA is helping to erode the guaranteed constitutional right of all citizens to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Shouldn't this be our ultimate goal?

Kristen Brownell

South Paris