Mass shootings by deranged gunmen are becoming far too common. According to CNN there have been 45 mass shooting this year. Concert goers have been killed in Las Vegas, worshiping Jews in a Cincinnati synagogue, praying Christians in a Texas Baptist Church, Unitarians in Kentucky, Asians in Georgia, school children. Most recently, Sikhs working for FedEx in Indiana were shot by a young man who legally was able to purchase assault rifles only months after his shotgun was seized by police because of his mental state. Yet little is being done to regulate gun ownership and use.
We hear that it is not possible to do anything because of the Second Amendment.
Our governor, in supporting legislation which liberalized the carrying of guns in Montana, recently quoted the second part of The Second Amendment: “… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” However he conveniently omitted the first part: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State… .” To me this says that people actively involved in defending the country have a right to own a weapon, but even if we accept that we are all part of this ill-defined “militia,” we cannot escape the fact that the Second Amendment clearly
states that this “militia” and its guns are to be “well regulated.”
The word “regulated” is in the amendment pertaining to gun ownership. In my view safety rules, licensing, registration, and background checks are part of regulation. More regulation of gun ownership and gun use may not solve the whole problem, but I think it can help. It’s constitutional and it’s time.
Stephen Guggenheim
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 4/28/21