Fight gun violence with stricter firearms laws

The shocking murder of Ayshawn Davis, 11, in a drive-by shooting in Troy will be decried and discussed and, in the end, if history is any guide, lead to nothing. We have seen it time and again.

The shooting of children on the streets, in schools or in cars, as targets or unintended victims, continues, and we have done nothing meaningful to end the carnage. It is a pandemic just as much as COVID -19. There can be no question that the real cause is the enormous number of guns in our country and the mindset that the Constitution gives all the right to own and carry guns wherever and whenever.

Leaving aside the question of whether the Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms, the text makes clear the right is not unfettered. The amendment reads: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The gun rights people and the National Rifle Association love the second clause but ignore the first, which places guns in the hands of a “wellregulated" militia.

Until we have meaningful gun control, these senseless killings will only continue and proliferate. The problem is a national one and must be dealt with federally. As we have seen with COVID -19, dealing with a pandemic state by state is wholly inadequate to flatten the curve.

Since 2019, there have been some 110 gun bills in Congress, one of which, Enhanced Background Checks of 2019, actually passed the House. If we wish to flatten the curve of gun violence, it is time for Congress to get off its duff and pass some bills. Lew Millenbach Albany