Live by what Second Amendment actually says

Mr. John Braun (“Change the Second Amendment, then,” Nov. 20), the Second Amendment is a fairly simple sentence. “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.” Many of us believe the Second Amendment only secures rights for members of a well-regulated militia. I understand that the courts have “interpreted” this amendment to apply more widely. We all have a number of Supreme Court opinions we strongly disagree with.

I support the right of law-abiding, mentally stable adults to keep and bear arms. However, eliminating the Founding Fathers’ admonition to remain “well-regulated” is foolhardy. Even if Mr. Braun declared himself a militia of one and thereby gained constitutional protections, they would remain predicated on being well regulated.

More concerning than the court’s expansion of these rights is the abdication of responsibility to assure they are well regulated.

Certainly a well-regulated militia would be adequately trained, and their weapons and ammunition would be task appropriate and registered to one individual. Regulating the public less-than-trained militia is counterintuitive and ill advised.

We do not need to repeal the Second Amendment. We need to live by what it actually says.

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Live by what Second Amendment actually says."