On the issue of gun control

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December 20, 2012

On the issue of gun control

Anonymous Newburyport Daily News The Daily News of Newburyport Thu Dec 20, 2012, 03:00 AM EST

To the editor:

The brutal holiday season shootings in a Connecticut grade school have brought gun control advocates to the fore again. Cases will be made by and for advocates and opponents alike in another might/right adversarial exchange of words.

Unfortunately, “context” is often omitted by both sides. Shame on the drafters of the Constitution for not having the foresight to understand what two-plus centuries of “progress” would deliver. Consider their entreaty for a “right to bear arms” given the “temper” of their time. And ask how many deaths would have occurred if the arms bearer had to stop and “re-powder” a musket before “dropping a ball” in the barrel. How smart could the drafters have been in not realizing that even Elmer Fudd might have been less vexed with an AK-47?

James Ryan

Newburyport

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