We all are saddened by Sandy Hook and the horror that occurred there by a mentally disturbed person who stole a gun from his mother and killed her also. There are many other stories of mass killings by insane people, a military officer and others. But who has been there to stop these people when they start killing people; the police? Many times it is an armed citizen who stops the madness. There are many of examples on the Internet of armed citizens saving police officers, their families, themselves and others.

We do not have a “gun culture” in this country. We have citizens who are allowed by the Bill of Rights to keep and bear arms. When the wise men of Congress passed the Bill of Rights in 1798 and the wise citizens of the States ratified the Bill of Rights in 1791, they envisioned what detrimental things could happen within a country. The Second Amendment stated, “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.” What does infringe mean? “To encroach upon in a way that violates law or the rights of another.”

They knew that their freedom had to be protected from forces inside and outside of the country. The Second Amendment of the Constitution allowed citizens to protect themselves from those forces. The citizens become a “well-regulated militia” when the ability of the military and the police are overwhelmed. I served in the military and in law enforcement. As a police officer, we never had problems with sane armed citizen; only criminals, intoxicated people and insane people with guns were the problem.

Assault weapons are not the problem. Recently a man on a college campus attacked people with a knife and many were stabbed. Fortunately this was not a fatal attack. Are we going to regulate knives, baseball bats, rocks, fists or other items which can kill? Granted, that mass murder is less likely with those weapons, but murder is murder.

I am for background checks for people purchasing firearms. That will not stop murder because criminals and the insane will find ways to get what Bruce Hansen calls “weapons of mass destruction.”

There is one more thing to think about. With the world becoming more unstable with financial troubles, radical dictators with large armies and our weakened military, an unarmed populace would also be a sign of weakness. Our forefathers foresaw what evil men would do and gave us the written instrument to help our preservation. We need to be ready when other help is not available.

DAVID BOERNER

Coeur d’Alene