Second Amendment inappropriate to modern reality

The Second Amendment to the Constitution was approved in 1791 when available weapons were either muskets or flintlock pistols, either of which could hold a single shot. A skilled shooter might be able to fire 3 to 4 shots per minute. The U.S. had no standing army. Those conditions have vastly changed today, making the Second Amendment totally inappropriate. That amendment obviously is in need of change to adequately apply to today's conditions. No one needs to own automatic or semiautomatic weapons.

Nancie Barker, Morgan Hill

A tale of two stories

I read with interest “A $1.75 million S.F. home became one couple's ‘House from Hell.' Now they're giving up on the city”(Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, Jan. 25) juxtaposed with “S.F. leaders don't always agree on housing but plan to build 82,000 new homes got unanimous OK. Here's why” (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, Jan. 24).

Heather Knight's column tells about the “nightmare” a couple went through to obtain permits to remodel their newly purchased $1.7 million fixerupper

in San Francisco. They finally gave up and bought a house in Millbrae and had little trouble getting the necessary permits for a remodel.

This somewhat foreshadows the unlikely success of San Francisco's fantasy blueprint for a huge increase in residential construction, which calls for the building of 82,000

new homes in eight years, 10,000 each year. In a gross understatement, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin remarked that the “implementation … is going to be a lot of work and is easier said than done.”

Given San Francisco's Affordable Housing Fee, construction costs and extremely

slow permit process, San Francisco seems destined to fall far short of constructing 82,000 new homes in eight years. The potential punishments for not having a certified housing element by the Jan. 31 deadline are severe. They include losing out on state funding for affordable housing and transportation, plus triggering a ‘builder's remedy” granting automatic approval for projects with affordable housing.

No kind of family

Mr. David Oates, a spokesperson for Terra Farms, says that the company's workers are “like family.” These same lowpaid workers are charged $300 monthly rent for the privilege of living in trailers and RVs on the farm property.

If that's how people in Mr. Oates' family are treated, I am heartily glad we are not related.

William Raffetto, Moraga

Perfect shot

What a great picture by Carlos Avila Gonzalez of Fred Warner's tackle of Ezekiel Elliot last Sunday. It's not always possible to get a good view of these running plays during live action, because there are so many bodies around the ball carrier. It perfectly symbolizes the ‘upending' of the Cowboys' Super Bowl hopes at the hands of the 49ers defense.

He should send an autographed copy to Jerry Jones.

Stephanie Frey/Getty Images/iStockphoto The recent mass shootings in Half Moon Bay and the Los Angeles County community of Monterey Park, among others, have readers searching everywhere they can look for solutions.