The preamble to the Constitution says the Constitution was written to ensure domestic tranquility. If we are threatened in any way, our domestic tranquility is denied us.

The Second Amendment says, “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” It does not say we have a right to have a gun to protect us from a neighbor who is angry with us. When the Constitution was written, the U.S. had no regular army. It was protected by local militias, and the federal government did not provide that militia with arms — each individual had to provide their own.

The Ninth Amendment states that none of the enumerated rights cannot be used to take away other rights provide by the same Constitution.

That means that you cannot use a gun or any other arm to threaten another citizen from exercising their rights. (All are guaranteed domestic tranquility, which cannot be threatened).

Since the Second Amendment states that the citizen bearing arms for a well-regulated — please note the words “well-regulated” — militia, then that government does have a right to regulate those arms in order to protect everyone else’s constitutional rights.

If you believe that our Constitution is not out of date, please note the Third Amendment, which says we do not have to quarter soldiers during peacetime and only when prescribed by law in wartime. When is the last time a soldier came barging in, uninvited, into any citizen’s home?

I suggest that fans of the Second Amendment read the rest of the Constitution very carefully, and attach importance to all parts of the Constitution.

Peter P. Sirois

Madison