The 2nd Amendment and Gun Ownership

It is disturbing to see that Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft gave incorrect advice to the NRA about the 2nd Amendment, saying it gives individuals the right to own guns (May 23). Although the NRA consistently tries to mislead the public by promoting this erroneous interpretation, its members should look at what a conservative Republican, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Burger, had to say. He was incensed by the NRA misrepresentation of the 2nd Amendment, and on Dec. 16, 1991, on TV, he stated, “[The 2nd Amendment] has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public.”

The NRA keeps pouring millions of dollars into support of GOP candidates, and together they keep promoting this nonexistent “right,” no matter how many people die. We deserve an attorney general who tells it straight, rather than saying only what is politically opportune.

Jack Miller

Tustin

So Ashcroft believes that there are gun rights for the individual in the Constitution? He is dead wrong and needs to do his homework. According to our seventh-grade civics textbook, the Supreme Court and lower courts have consistently ruled that the Constitution only guarantees the right of states to keep militia, now known as National Guard units. In other words, the courts have declared that individual citizens do not have a constitutional right to possess guns.

Maybe Ashcroft is ignoring the truth because he is just paying back the NRA for contributing over $350,000 for his failed 2000 Senate bid.

Niko and Theo Milonopoulos

Kidz Voice-L.A., Studio City