Right to bear arms is God-given

To the Editor:

Suppose that in order to exercise your constitutionally enumerated First Amendment right to free speech you had to: 1. Pay to attend a training course. 2. Pay to take a test about the contents of that course. 3. Pay a fee to the government for a license to exercise that right, and finally, 4. Get permission from some government official to acquire a license (that you must carry while exercising the right) that states you have the right of free speech. Does this sound fair? Thankfully, none of this is necessary to exercise the right of free speech.

That list DOES outline the requirements necessary to exercise your rights as enumerated in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. In addition, the Second Amendment states specifically that this right shall not be infringed. No other of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution has that statement. As noted in the first paragraph, these four items are the requirements (as stated by laws) that are necessary to exercise our Second Amendment right. In my opinion, these laws infringe on our right to keep and bear arms. In my opinion, these laws infringe on the right as defined by the Second Amendment of the Constitution and therefore are unconstitutional.

Note also that these rights are not granted by the Constitution, but are listed only to enumerate God-given human rights. Any right that is permitted by law may be revoked by another law. The First and Second Amendments state rights that are NOT permitted by law but instead are God-given rights.

Alan ONeill

Columbia

Painted concrete walls necessary?

To the Editor:

For some reason, paving unnavigable sidewalks in downtown Sonora is far less important than painted concrete walls on Mono Way. Never mind that people have difficulty walking, therefore shopping and spending money, at local businesses downtown.

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Letters to the Editor for Dec. 23, 2014