In response to the June 6 letter concerning the Second Amendment (“Wrong to suggest electorate would take up arms“), when that was passed in the late 18th century, it took maybe a minute to a minute and a half to reload a musket.

The cyclical rate of fire for an M-16 is 700 to 900 rounds per minute. And, any militia man who thinks he and his gun buds can take on the National Guard (let alone the Army, the Navy or the Marines) needs to wake up and smell the gunpowder.

These days, shooters can empty a 30-round magazine on an M-16 or an M-4 in maybe two seconds — which is why civilians are not allowed to have fully automatic rifles.

Chris Queally
Scarborough