Letter: Bearing arms is a responsibility as well as a right

Markus Berghofer wrote that keeping and bearing arms is a fundamental right (TCH, Aug. 3).

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, adopted in 1791, reads: “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.”

It was not until 2008 that the Supreme Court decided this right is an individual right, while also ruling that the right is not unlimited and does not prohibit all regulation of either firearms or similar devices.

“In order to ... insure domestic tranquility ... promote the general welfare,” we have the right to limit keeping and bearing arms to sane adults who are not convicted felons, to require the licensing of weapons, to require safety courses, to decide which arms the general citizenry may bear and where they may bear them. We have a right to gun-free zones. Military ordnance should be in the hands of our military, not our civilians.

Keeping and bearing arms is a responsibility as well as a right.

This story was originally published August 10, 2016 at 4:16 AM with the headline "Letter: Bearing arms is a responsibility as well as a right."