Militia means citizen soldiers. The American militia defeated tyranny.

The Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amendment because they realized tyranny is eternally a threat and to assure we would always have an American militia that could defend against it.

Arguments that civilian soldiers couldn’t compete against a modern army are untrue. Vietnam, Afghani-stan and Syria all demonstrate this.

Any weapons ban is a suppressive act against our militia by our government. The suppression of a society begins by disarming the people.

Adolf Hitler said the most foolish mistake we could make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that conquerors who allowed their subject races to carry weapons have prepared their own downfall.

In the words of John F. Kennedy, “Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.”

We need to tackle the issues of mental health and deinstitutionalization, keep all weapons out of the hands of criminals and enforce current laws. Let’s check backgrounds, but never demand firearm registration. Millions own AR-15s with 30-round magazines. They are your militia, guardians of freedom, protectors from tyranny. Never disarm them!

I am disgusted by fools declaring “you don’t need 30 bullets to shoot a deer.” Do people really profess that the sacred “right to bear arms” was created only to protect the rights of sportsmen, hunters and for home defense?

People who don’t understand the greater meaning of our Second Amendment and that it still protects from tyranny even in this day, should educate themselves. Do those of us who support the Second Amendment a favor, read it.

Eric Hewett

Sidney