Second Amendment is hard-won freedom

I must agree with Richard A. Johanson (op-ed Dec. 9) that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate the technologies that would challenge the freedoms guaranteed to all of us under the Bill of Rights.

They did not anticipate the Internet, which has challenged our ability to control hate speech, religions that preach murder and hatred from the pulpit, bombs on airplanes. Perhaps he is correct that we need to modify the Bill of Rights; 10 is a lot to remember and two or three shortened ones would probably protect us from many threats in our complex modern society.

Hitler and Stalin both started with seizure of privately held weapons and then limited freedom of the press. It was highly effective.

The arms of of citizen-soldiers won our freedom from the tyranny of Great Britain, which fielded the best-trained and best-equipped army in the world. The Constitution does not mention hunting, but citizens who could afford them could own mortars, cannons, rockets and warships when the Constitution was ratified.

The Second Amendment was not written as a right to hunt, it was an additional protection from tyrants. It should be preserved and strengthened as should our other hard won freedoms.

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Second Amendment is hard-won freedom."