Harris will act on own

In the predictable mad dash of the candidates to politicize the tragic events in Dayton and El Paso, I thought Kamala Harris particularly “distinguished” herself. She boldly asserts that when she becomes president, if Congress does not immediately enact gun-control legislation, she will act on her own.

This is more than the usual Obamastyle bypassing of the Constitution for unilateral executive action. It seems she proposes nothing less than the usurpation of a constitutionally protected individual right on the say-so of one person. If you think her gun-grabbing will be taking away the weapons of criminals, guess again. Law-abiding citizens will have their self-defense rights stripped by order of the executive alone. This is the action of a Lenin, a Castro, or a Chavez.

If you do believe the deterioration of our society now justifies stripping Americans of their Second Amendment rights, the Constitution provides the means for that fight. For an executive to usurp that right by fiat is the action of an autocrat, a despot, a dictator, not the president of a free people living under a constitutional government.

I doubt any of the near two dozen other declared candidates of the party of “government uber alles” would be much better, but at least Senator Harris has left us in no doubt of her sincerity when she swears on God’s word to uphold the Constitution.

KARL T. KIMBALL

Little Rock