Letter: Then and now

Robert Wright, Estero

Then and now

By 1790, the best-trained and drilled regular army in the world, after a year of daily training, could load and fire one musket ball from their 75 caliber muskets every 15 seconds. This was during the era when the new American nation was created and when the federalists wrote and promoted the nation's Constitution.

The first 10 amendments of the Constitution were approved by Virginia on Dec. 15, 1791. This vote followed nine other states making what became known as the Bill of Rights part of our national fabric.

The point is that James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, and his political allies had no idea what perversion would occur with the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms). The deadly art of war in the 18th Century seems almost gentile today when a person too young to legally buy a six-pack of beer can acquire the firepower needed to kill dozens of men, women and children in a minute or two, and even stop armored vehicles and slaughter police.

Today anyone with Internet access and a credit card has the ability to purchase as many military grade guns as desired or fantasized about, including .50-caliber armor-piercing, semi-automatic rifles. The only limitation is the individual's credit card debt limit.

With our courts in league with those wanting no restrictions on firearms, and our Congress in the thrall of the National Rifle Association, we will all need to watch the never-ending carnage and the slaughter of innocents.

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