To the Journal editor:

The Second Amendment states that “a well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

There was no connection between the Second Amendment and gun control until the NRA and pro-gun lobby created one after the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed. Many court decisions have affirmed that each state has the authority to create a militia and most states call it their National Guard. Members of a state’s National Guard are authorized to carry military-style assault weapons which are stored at an armory and not a member’s residence.

States have created rapid response teams, usually under the jurisdiction of a county sheriff. There are many restrictions as to how these teams can unlock and use their assault weapons. There are even regulations as to when their handguns can be drawn and fired. Any individual or group of citizens armed with military-style assault weapons and ammunition which they carry around in public does not constitute a well-regulated militia.

In any case, those person who are eligible to possess firearms by the Gun Control Act are not affected by the act as the pro-gun lobby claims. This has caused a fear among gun owners that any gun control legislation will cause the confiscation of their firearms.

This is despite the fact that there has never been an incident when a firearm that was possessed by a person eligible to have it, that was acquired in a legal manner, that the firearm had no history of criminal use, that was being used in legal manner, was confiscated by any federal, state and local law enforcement agency since 1968.

It’s time to “put up or shut up!” Anyone who knows of an instance, within the above mentioned framework, where a firearm was taken away from an individual, should point it out.

Please state the individual involved, when and where it happened, and enough court documents that show why this happened, or other documentation that shows was it was confiscated without a court hearing.

Send information to any member of The Mining Journal’s editorial staff.

William Jorns

Marquette