Second Amendment and Gun Control

Your editorial on guns was outrageous in its narrow view of a very complex issue. There are two types of people, you seem to suggest, the sane who favor banning all assault weapons, and the spineless cowards who have succumbed to National Rifle Assn. threats and hysterics. I hate to break your safe, self-righteous bubble, but it is possible to take a hard critical look at all sides of this debate and come up with an opposing viewpoint.

One point you seem to miss is that our rights (including the right to bear arms) are not given to us by the government--they are guaranteed to us by the Constitution. They, therefore, cannot enter into some nebulous utilitarian equation to be weighed against the “good of society.”

Whatever the dubious benefits of such a ban would be they are contingent upon the denial of legitimate rights of law-abiding citizens.

DANIEL N. HARKINS

San Diego