Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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| Chris Sivula has worked as a writer and editor at the Tri-City Herald for more than 25 years. He moved from the newsroom to the editorial section in 2002 and was named editorial page editor in 2005. Have a question about the Herald's opinion pages? Click here to send Chris an e-mail. |
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closeLast month we ran a couple of letters from readers taking us to task for our editorial on the latest Supreme Court ruling on Second Amendment rights.
We should have spiked their comments.
Here’s why: The writers attacked us for a position we don’t hold.
Our editorial views are fair game. We welcome letters that take issue with our editorials, partly because they enliven the opinion pages — we prefer debates to lectures — and partly because criticism tests the strength of our ideas.
But it’s just confusing when others characterize our position as the polar opposite of the view we hold.
The Herald’s editorial board supports the Second Amendment and individual gun ownership. These recent writers criticized us for a stance against the Constitution that we’ve never taken.
I’ve taken another look at our last editorial that caused the hubbub. Here’s what it said in a nutshell.
— The Supreme Court has ruled the Constitution is clear that gun ownership is an individual right.
— If gun opponents don’t like it, their only option is to repeal the Second Amendment.
— And that has as much chance for success as the proverbial snowball.
Maybe the way we worded it sounded to some like we advocate repealing the Second Amendment. For the record — we don’t.
@Nyx.CommentBody@