Post readers letters on various local, state and national topics.

Is the Second Amendment relevant in todays society? Does the Second Amendment only give us the right to own a firearm if we are a member of a well-regulated militia?

The United States has not had a militia for 150 years; should it be reinstated and all firearm owners, including myself, be required to be a member of a militia?

The Supreme Court has ruled that the National Guard does meet the requirements of a well-regulated militia, but reasonable gun control laws are constitutional. Everyone always quotes the second half of the Second Amendment but never the first half.

The reason I have asked the above questions is that there is no place you can go today and not think about a shooting. It is my opinion that we step back and have a reasonable discussion about firearms. When someone starts screaming that the Second Amendment gives him or her the right to own a gun, ask if they have read the entire Second Amendment and ask if they are a member of a well-regulated militia.

Nicholas Sacco, West Palm Beach

'Eyesore piles

could be of use

I live in the northern part of Palm Beach County. Each day I commute down A1A from Jupiter to Lake Park. The railroad tracks parallel the road and about every 100 yards or more there are piles of concrete ties that are quite an eyesore piled in groups of 15 or more.

My first thought was they should ship them to the Mexican border to help build the Trump wall. My second thought, after reading about how many people die crossing these railroad tracks in the south county area, would be to use them to build barriers in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach where people take short cuts across the tracks, and reduce the chances of people getting killed on the tracks.

It sure would make driving from Indiantown Road to Northlake a lot easier on the eye and make good use of the railroad ties.

Royce Emley, Tequesta

Zero interest rates

would hurt seniors

President Trump's repeated calls for the Federal Reserve to push interest rates down to zero demonstrate his lack of concern for the financial interests of retired people.

People who save part of their income during their working years and invest it in safe, fixed income assets like savings accounts, certificates of deposit, municipal bonds, treasury bonds and corporate bonds to provide income which supplements their Social Security benefits during their retirement years are financially devastated by falling interest rates.

Pushing interest rates down to zero would mean that retired people who live on the interest earned on these types of assets would earn no interest on the money they sacrificed so much to save during their working years.

In addition, it could negatively affect retirees living on fixed incomes by overstimulating the economy, causing inflationary price increases.

David Weissman, Delray Beach

Thank Trump for

crude-oil increases

Since President Trump came into office, American crude-oil production has increased by 3.65 million barrels per day. This is a leap of more than 40 percent. As a result, gasoline prices have come down.

These prices would have come down even more, but there have been voluntary production cuts by some of the world's largest producers, including Saudi Arabia. These foreign producer cuts were made for their own benefit to keep oil prices from falling even more.

As a result of the greater American energy independence, America is far less dependent on OPEC petroleum and the unstable Middle East oil producers. The recent attack on the Saudi petroleum facility had little effect on the price of gasoline in America.

President Trump deserves credit for his efforts in this regard.

Arthur Horn, Boca Raton

The Palm Beach Post is committed to publishing a diversity of opinion. Please send your views to letters@pbpost.com or by mail to Letters to the Editor, The Palm Beach Post, 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33405. Letters are subject to editing, must not exceed 200 words and must include your name, address and daytime phone number (we will publish only your name and city).

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Letters: Where's the militia in 2nd Amendment? - Opinion - Palm Beach Post