Regarding “Panel: gun regulation nuanced, necessary” (CR, Oct. 1): Unsurprisingly, the panel of anti-gunners all claimed “we need more gun regulation.” Is this our “New Catechism”?
Instead of discussing “Catholic social teaching,” panelists should have discussed “Catholic moral teaching” – specifically respecting life and personal responsibility. Baltimore’s 224 gun homicides this year (as of Oct. 4) are a moral disaster, more than a social or gun problem. Do the panelists think that more gun regulation would magically reinstate a respect for life, or somehow put an end to violence? How naïve. Expecting lawless or deranged individuals to honor yet another gun law is fantasy. Even deranged shooters have enough presence of mind to prefer “gun-free zones” (as in Oregon), where their victims won’t shoot back.
The panelists’ claim that the 2nd Amendment is “nuanced” is nonsense. Anyone who has read the writings of Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, or Samuel Adams, would know that our Constitution’s framers intended the 2nd Amendment to apply to all citizens.
Should guns be in hands of the mentally unstable? Of course not, but thinking that more gun regulations will magically solve society’s moral problems is equally insane.
Emil Hatfalvi
Ellicott City
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