New caveats needed for private gun ownership

I am concerned about the proliferation of guns in public places, and the recent wounding of an Arizona congresswoman and death of a federal judge and others has me worried for the integrity of our democracy. Ninety years of relentless National Rifle Association lobbying has shifted gun “rights” first from the defense of hunting, then to personal safety, and now to the public display of guns.

Putting this issue in terms of constitutional “originalism,” the framers stated that the right to own and bear arms shall not be abridged, but they placed a caveat that citizens would be members of local militias. Our society has changed a lot in 222 years. Citizen militias became the National Guard, we have 300 million more people, modern guns can spray thousands of bullets in the time it took to reload a musket, and Americans are armed to the teeth.

Clearly, we need new caveats on private gun ownership.

Can anyone show me statistics proving people are safer when private guns are present or displayed in churches, bars, schools, public hearings, malls or political rallies?

How many instances of election violence in emerging democracies around the world (and political assassinations in America) must be witnessed to convince us that guns are used in public to intimidate people we don't like? Guns undermine democratic principals.

Building upon the original constitutional caveat, we must forbid public display of private guns.

Dave Benn

Cedar Rapids