Russ Helms should have reviewed constitutional law before submitting his column ("Gun Control Costs Innocent Lives" April 3) supporting the individual's right to bear arms supposedly found in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Second Amendment does not guarantee a virtually unfettered right to arm oneself in defense of life, property and against the possibility of government-imposed martial law. Contrary to Helms' opinion, historians, scholars, and most importantly, the courts, have virtually all concluded that: the Second Amendment was designed to protect state organized militias rather than the individual right to own a gun. It is a collective right and not an individual right. The Supreme Court has never struck down a gun control measure as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
Helms alleges the need for a gun to use in self defense. But in 1997, for every time a firearm was used by a civilian to kill in self-defense, there were 4 unintentional deaths, 43 criminal homicides and 75 suicides. In 1998, for every time a woman used a handgun to kill a stranger or intimate acquaintance in self-defense, 385 women were murdered by a stranger or intimate acquaintance. Guns killed 32,436 people in the United States in 1997.
The proposed Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act before Congress will allow our country to address these sobering statistics.
Matthew Oliver
Freshman
Public Policy
Firearms Safety Project Manager
