Our right to bear arms is not an unlimited right

Frank Watson is wrong.

He is writing in the Opinion section of the paper, so like anyone else, he has a right to express his opinion. That’s what he’s doing in his Aug. 15 piece on guns in America. Unfortunately, his premise is incorrect; the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” is not absolute, no matter what Col. Watson “feels.” 

“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment right is not unlimited.... [It is] not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a judicial hero of conservatives, wrote that in the District of Columbia v. Heller decision.

By all means let’s come together and address the appalling issue of gun violence in America — in good faith, willing to compromise for the common good. But let’s not be stymied in our efforts by imagined or ill-understood limitations on what we can achieve. The lives of our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens are too precious to be so ill served. 

Richard V. Badalamente

Kennewick, Wash.