No headline

This is in response to Joseph Henry Wythe’s Nov. 2 letter in which he states “ … the right to have guns in non-existent.”

In Federalist Paper No. 46, James Madison (chief architect of the Constitution (contrasts the United States standing army with a militia comprised of citizens. Also in the same paper, he states “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every nation …” He was clearly talking about citizens.

Furthermore the Second Amendment uses the phrase “the right of the people,” just like the First and Fourth amendments do. Instead of relying on Wythe’s subjective opinions, let us look at the wording of the document itself. Below are the words from the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States:

First Amendment — “The right of the people peaceably to assemble …”

Second Amendment — “The right of the people to keep and bear arms …”

Fourth Amendment — “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches …”

If there is no individual right of citizens to keep and bear arms, then there is no individual right of citizens to free speech, religion, assembly, or to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The vocabulary is the same in all three amendments. “The right of the people” means individual rights.

JASON OTTO

Cocolalla