Don Ewing: Intent of Constitution is to guarantee citizens' rights, not limit them

To The Daily Sun,

Our Constitution wouldn’t have been ratified, nor would its Second Amendment have been adopted, if Americans believed either would limit their individual rights to “keep and bear arms.” Beliefs to the contrary show, in my opinion, a misunderstanding of history and our Constitution’s purpose.

When our Constitution was adopted, firearms were essential tools in everyday life for many, perhaps most, people. Firearms were used for hunting, protection (people often lived far apart) from human and animal predators that threatened people and livestock, and were essential in winning freedom from England, and in conducting earlier and possibly future wars.

The purpose of the U.S. Constitution is to protect, not limit, people’s rights. Our Constitution gives government specified authorities/powers which don’t include the power to limit citizens’ “arms” (weapons).

Our Constitution’s authors didn’t believe specifying protections of citizens' rights were needed, but to allay fears, they promised Amendments to specify individual protections from government oppression. The first 10 Amendments, our Bill of Rights, protects citizens’ rights, including the right to “keep and bear arms,” from infringement by government.

No constitutional amendments authorize government to take away law-abiding citizens’ firearms. Guns were legally bought through the mail until 1968. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court approved, seemingly violating our constitutional rights, some local laws on firearm use and some restrictions on things like automatic weapons and hand grenades.

We all want, and pass laws, to be safer. But laws don’t stop criminals or terrorists.

As we have seen, disarming law-abiding people, defunding and restricting police, and not punishing or lightly punishing criminals only make life less safe. Criminals are emboldened to commit more crimes and victimize more innocent people.

Recognizing people's needs and human nature, our founding fathers wisely protected people’s individual rights, including “to keep and bear arms.”

Don Ewing

Meredith