How times have changed?!

Published in the Democrat and Chronicle in the "Inbox" section of the Opinion page:

The framers of the Constitution were brilliant men. That document, written well over two centuries ago, has shown great resiliency and foresight.But, I cannot wrap my head around the gun lobby’s belief that our Second Amendment rights were ever intended to include automatic weapons, bump-stocks, silencers and muzzle-flash concealers. Weapons of mass destruction like we saw on display in Vegas have absolutely no place or need in our society, except in the hand of law enforcement and military.
Times have changed. We, and our politicians, need to also.

This really bothered me, so I wrote this letter to the Editors of the Democrat and Chronicle.

Dear Sirs:

The letter to the editor stating "Weapons of mass destruction .... have no place or need ... except in the hands of law enforcement and military." made me shudder.

Really? Posse Comitatus should make it very clear we do not want weapons of mass destruction in the hands of law enforcement. The D&C reports daily on the the misconduct of law enforcement. Should we trust them with military grade weapons when so many have not served? I think not. All too often, automatic weapons in the hands of civilian authority have disappeared (https://www.rt.com/usa/183000-police-departments-lose-military-weaponry/ for example).

Seriously - I value my rights to possess a firearm guaranteed under the Second Amendment, upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.

When all guns are illegal, only people with criminal intent will have firearms, and then God help us all. Note:  please review gun laws and statistics in Chicago. This is tragic every month.

Respectfully yours,

Charles R. Kinsey
4154 Bennetts Corners Road
Holley, NY 14470

Here's the link to the article on military grade weapons being 'lost':  Departments Lose Military Grade Weaponry