20th-century rules

The March 13 Metro article “Maryland handgun rule in trouble” said that “The Supreme Court ruled last year that to restrict gun possession, ‘ the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation’ through the end of the 19th century.”

At the end of the 19th century (1899), this nation had revolvers and repeating rifles; it did not have semiautomatic rifles and pistols.

So apply 19th-century rules to 19thcentury weapons, leaving contemporary weapons to be ruled by 20th-century rules.

Thomas Mcbirney, Columbia