The Constitution gives the right to vote in several places, Article I, amendments 14, 15, 19, 24 and 26. Obviously there is no competency requirement. The Second Amendment guarantees a right that pre-existed the Constitution would not be infringed. Nowhere in the Constitution is hunting mentioned.

The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence gives us one reason for the Second Amendment: “That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it. ... It is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government.” The writers of the Constitution knew the best protection from tyranny was an armed citizenry.

People say our government wouldn’t do that, but they are, one prayer, one 32-ounce soda, one cigarette, one gun at a time. One man’s Patriot Act is another grandmother’s strip frisk.

When Jesus sent his disciples out, he sent them with the most advanced technology in self-defense weapons of their time and told them how many were enough (Luke 22:36-38). Are today’s politicians playing Christ by telling us how many and what kind of guns we should have?

Michael Bell

Cape Vincent

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