George Will on Gun Control

In response to George Will’s column “The Right to Bear Arms Is in Stone” (Column Right, Commentary, March 21):

The right protected by the Second Amendment is every bit as valid today as it was 200 years ago. Criminal activity and the inability of law enforcement to protect the individual make self-defense a compelling reason for gun ownership today.

I suggest that weakening the Second Amendment because its supporting basis has changed is like suggesting that the First Amendment be weakened because the rights that it guarantees are recognized by custom in our modern society.

Weakening the Second Amendment because it stymies gun-control attempts is like weakening the First Amendment to permit silencing those who abuse the right at the expense of the vast majority who do not.

The Bill of Rights provides guarantees whose benefits far outweigh the costs of their misuse.

ARDEN L. ACORD, Tujunga