Every now and again it’s popular to debate nebulous aspects of the U.S. Constitution, a subject and document that most of us know precious little about, but in spite of our ignorance, we plunge head-long into it anyway. Today it’s the Second Amendment that arouses an equal amount of angst and sentiment on all sides of the issue. Despite the vacuousness and vagaries surrounding it (the amendment), some still dare to explain the intricacies of the wording, though most who venture in it have done little to no research in the matter.

Case in point is a letter-writer who stated that the right to own and bear arms is only a privilege much like a driver’s license.

The Second Amendment is a God-given right bestowed upon all natural born Americans at birth. A privilege is something one must earn. Privileges can be taken away by the same authority who bestowed it in the first instance, but no lower power can nullify a God-given right. Can you say inalienable?

Google up what the framers had to say about guns and rights and while you’re at it check out militia as well. The founding fathers were fanatical in their love for gun rights for this one simple reason: the fear of an over-reaching central government that would one day seek to strip the people of their arms and then you have dictatorship and tyranny. After all, the founders fought the government (England) over these aforementioned rights so that future generations would not need to do so.

The first 10 amendments are not called the Bill of Rights for no good reason. They are the foundation of all our freedoms and the secularists’ Ten Commandments. They stand for all time as God breathed, inspired and given. We need to cherish these rights and be willing to defend them at all cost.

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno on gun control: Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of private firearms is the goal.

To the writer who penned: “Gun ownership should be limited” I make this offer. Pack a good lunch and give me a call sometime. I’ll take you to school on what you don’t know about guns.

CALVIN LACY

Hertford