This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sen. Mike Lee's announced intention to filibuster any new gun control legislation that comes before the Senate is appalling ("Lee vows to filibuster gun-control legislation," Tribune, April 27).
The overwhelming majority of Americans want additional controls on the gun madness that infects our society. To claim that our government has no right to regulate the purchase and use of firearms is to condone the murder of the thousands of innocent Americans destroyed every year by gun violence.
That claim makes him and his ilk accessories to killing. Can Lee, and others like him, honestly stand before the parents of the slaughtered innocents of Newtown, Conn., and say that our government can do nothing to restrict the possession of such weapons of mass murder?
The Second Amendment supports no such claim. It equally asserts the right of ownership and the right of regulation. There is an explicit context for "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms." It is "a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State."
I implore Lee to bring compassion and common sense to this critical national issue. I hope many others will do the same.
Douglas Johnstone
Sandy