Guns and 2nd Amendment

The Times is to be congratulated for its strong position on guns and gun violence, but when are you going to get your writing and editing guidelines “in line” with your position? “Moms Call March a Turning Point” (May 18) mentions a Valley gun owner who belongs to “a group of gun owners working to preserve the right to keep and bear arms.”

Hello? Second Amendment guarantees regarding individual gun ownership have not been decided by the courts, and no gun law has ever been overturned on 2nd Amendment grounds. The reporter may have been simply repeating the group’s own statement of what they stand for, but in that case, it should have read, “a group of gun owners who believe that the 2nd Amendment gives them the right to keep and bear arms.”

Words have power, and readers interpret what they read as fact. Given that, it is very important not to repeat the gun lobby’s interpretation of the 2nd Amendment as if it were fact. This is at least the second time I’ve seen this in The Times. Please, be more careful so that your readers will be aware of the differing interpretations of this core issue of the gun debate.

SUSAN ROGERS

Van Nuys