Gun question clearly answered

A recent letter criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. While I respect the opinion and the right to offer it, my support lies with the now-affirmed right to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

The high court's majority opinion notes that, in framing the Constitution, our Founding Fathers went to explicit lengths to assure us all that we would never have to fear our government. Decades of suffering by colonialists under the rule of the British crown ultimately led to our forefathers' declaring independence. The declaration launched our revolution. Our revolution bore our Constitution, which, once modestly changed with important amendments like the Second, has stood as our nation's foundational rule book for more than two centuries.

The Supreme Court held that, "The Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in the militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense in the home." As such, Washington. D.C.'s law outlawing handguns was found unconstitutional in violation of the clear and plain reading of the Second Amendment.

I, like the Supreme Court, acknowledge that more questions relating to the regulation of gun ownership will be asked and answered in the coming years. But, much to my satisfaction, the overarching question of lawful gun ownership and use has been clearly and rightly answered. We as free citizens of the United States have the right to keep and bear arms, a right which government cannot take away.

State Sen. JASON CROWELL, 27th District, Cape Girardeau