Ohio letters challenge automatic weapons - echoes from ordinary people

Published in Cleveland.com ~ two echoes from letters to the editor

The latest mass shooting of high school students and their faculty, in Parkland, Florida, only serves to emphasize what a disastrous situation this country is in, with no leadership in place to grapple with the issue of gun control. 

Effectively dealing with mental-health issues is only part of the problem. My question is, why does anyone who is not in the military or law enforcement have a need to access and carry an automatic or semi-automatic weapon? The issue of gun control must be addressed immediately and decisively for the safety of our children and the future of our country. Sr. Regina Fierman,
Broadview Heights

Assault weapons should not be available to citizens

When our nation's forefathers ratified the 2nd Amendment, the right to bear arms*, in 1791, would they have approved of having private citizens own automatic assault weapons? (Maine Writer- when the second amendment was written, the most deadly gun was a musket that could only fire one round at a time.) 

After the major tragedies involving assault weapon guns, how can the leadership of the NRA, its members, the Congress and Donald Trump, in good conscience, continue supporting the use of this murderous gun?  Ed Oberndorf, Cleveland

* The right to bear arms: what does the second amendment really mean? ~ Published in The Guardian: The amendment reads: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”  But, the law does not automatically give people the unlimited right to own and use rapid fire assault weapons. In other words, the safety of the public can and should be protected against the unregulated use of deadly weapons of mass destruction.