Second Amendment

Nothing new has happened. It's been repeated over and over again. A deranged individual, armed with ammunition guaranteed to wreak the most possible carnage, has successfully carried out a mission utilizing his Constitutional rights. And as usual, the nation mourns. How the nation sobs, weeps for these precious, innocent babes and their guardians. Twenty-six in all, not counting the families/parents who, though still walking, have also died. That's this week. Next week we'll have other worries: fiscal cliffs, film and TV awards, etc., etc. Interestingly, not far off from that number is what I consider to have become another equally bloody twenty-seven words - one sentence - comprising the Second Amendment.

Members of the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups are determined to stop any and all gun control laws. They fear the government will attempt to confiscate their weapons, and they are desperate to hold on to them. Why? These people generally do not live in crime-infested urban neighborhoods. They don't need their guns to protect themselves from armed criminals - no, they need them to protect themselves from the government. They think gun-control is the first step to dictatorship.

The Second Amendment is vital to the preservation of liberty and freedom. The government's responsibility is to trust, encourage and rely upon We the People. It is not to infringe upon our God-given rights, especially not enforcement of unconstitutional and liberty-killing violations like "gun control" laws. SB 539, SB 540, SB 544, and SB 577 are about citizen control, not gun control. These bills falsely assume the guns themselves are responsible for shooting deaths, and they would punish citizens by restricting our liberty, rather than those that carry out violent crimes.

In a recent commentary on reducing gun violence, former Baltimore City Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III demonstrated a need to "go back to school" concerning the Second Amendment ("What must be done," Dec. 26). Mr. Bealefeld's education could begin by re-reading two seminal documents regarding the Second Amendment: The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. If he had acquainted himself with the facts, he would not have made the statement he made.

"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. " Our Second Amendment is experiencing the "death by a thousand cuts. " Perhaps no single gun law will take away our guns, but many such laws regarding magazine size, weapon types and ammunition will collectively accomplish that end, whether intended or not. This is the very reason our Founding Fathers included the last four words "shall not be infringed" in the Second Amendment.

One thing strikes me in the tragic happenings in Tucson. We hear and read many sorrowful statements about what is behind this unfathomable tragedy. We have a minute of silence to think about the victims. We hear about the lives about the people who have been killed and the congresswoman of Arizona who is admired by many. We hear about the climate of violence in this great nation. We are outraged about the vitriol that is being used in the Congress some of the media. We believe that we need to turn around from this climate and become civilized again.

The brouhaha over Attorney General Eric Holder and the contempt of Congress charge brought by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa is providing new evidence that the lunatics are running the Republican asylum. Mr. Issa, the California Republican who is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, would have us believe President Obama's assertion of executive privilege in the dispute -- "an eleventh-hour stunt," he called it on Fox News -- is part of a White House cover up of something much more sinister.

It is time to move beyond the archaic interpretation of the Second Amendment offered by the gun lobby ("What will get the NRA's attention?" Jan. 7). We do not believe in the legality of independent militias today, nor do we subscribe to the overthrow of the government by militias. To require a license and background check before someone can purchase a gun may be interpreted by some as an infringement of individual rights, but such laws are in place across the country. Enforcement of gun laws is costly, as is the cost of gun violence, and I believe it is absolutely necessary that gun owners bear the brunt of those costs.

Editor: It was with a heavy heart and a terrible sense of sorrow that I, like many of you, watched the tragic events and unfathomable loss of life in Sandy Hook on Dec. 14, 2012, and questioned how such acts of unprovoked violence can be averted. As the father of two daughters who attend Harford County Public Schools and partake in all of the wonderful things Harford County has to offer, I often worry about their safety. As a career law enforcement officer, I, like other current and former members of the law enforcement community, cannot help but to seek data on this event and others in an attempt to arrive at an answer.