Letters to the Editor: Will the Supreme Court continue its ridiculous abuse of the 2nd Amendment?

To the editor: The Times editorial regarding the Bruen and Rahimi cases is right on target. The wording of the 2nd Amendment clearly refers to the functioning of a “well-regulated militia.” It doesn’t suggest that any or all persons have the right to walk around with a gun, let alone an automatic weapon.

The ancillary argument that because there were no such restrictions at the time of the adoption of the 2nd Amendment is both intellectually dishonest and ignorant of U.S. judicial history. It puts the burden of justification on any proposed law by arguing that because it was not in existence 200 years ago it cannot be upheld now.

To take one historically significant example: For decades between the adoption of the 14th Amendment and its equal protection clause, “separate but equal” racial segregation was upheld. This did not preclude the court in its 1954 Brown case from ruling 9-0 that legal segregation violated the 14th Amendment, regardless of previous practice.

The recent striking down of the various gun laws is a legal disgrace and danger to public safety. It serves to make our country an international laughingstock.

David Perel, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Your critique of the Supreme Court’s misuse of the nonsensical “originalism” doctrine is spot on. I wish the right-wing justices would take a lesson from a founding father who actually lived in the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson. After a brief stroll down the Mall to his memorial, take a moment to read his words on the Southeast Portico:

“I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as a civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”

Originalism be damned!

Jon Calhoun, Pacific Palisades