Gun control

The prevailing interpretation of America’s constitutional right to bear arms is at the heart of the gun control problem, not least because it wilfully distorts the obvious meaning and context of the Second Amendment.

The “right of the people to bear arms” is linked directly to the need for a “well-regulated militia”.

Its context implies integrity of purpose situated within habitual military discipline, whereas the common interpretation refers merely to a “right” to own battlefield weapons in the family home. REV DR JOHN CAMERON Howard Place, St Andrews