MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK

Letters

Discussion

April 15, 2009

THE PEOPLE SPEAK: Congress has gun control authority

Recent mass murders have renewed calls for control of weapons that were used in these and similar killings. But in the discussions relating to guns, should we be concerned about trying to control guns or the individuals who possess them?

Past efforts at gun control have met only minimal success. Perhaps, that is because it was approached in the wrong way. All efforts to control the manufacture, sale and distribution of weapons are controversial and not likely to succeed if challenged in court.

Opponents of gun control cite the Second Amendment, which states, “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.”

In light of this, one might ask if any approach to gun control short of repealing the Second Amendment might be held as constitutional by the courts.

Among the responsibilities given to Congress in Article I, Section 8, is, “The power ... To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing, such part of them as may be employed in the services of the United States, reserving to the states, respectively, the Appointment of Officers, and the authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by the Congress.”

If this section has not been amended, why do we ask Congress to pass gun control laws when the Constitution already gives them authority to control guns?

Edward Clisson Warren

Muskogee

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