Because calculus is waaaaay beyond this idiot's level

The Moral Calculus of Gun Rights

This is the second time I have seen the photograph of the jubilant young lady cheering the Supreme Court's decision on gun rights in District of Columbia v. Heller. In the photo, she holds a sign that reads ". . . Shall Not Be Infringed. Any Questions" ["A Workable Gun Law for the City," Close to Home, Sept. 21].

Well, I've seen the picture in question and I happen to agree with it. The Second Amendment clearly states "Shall not be infringed". I may get onto my brethren from time to time about using that phrase as the end all be all of arguments, but I agree with them on what it means.

I have some questions: Has she ever kissed someone she loved for the last time, jolted by the blood clots on that person's forehead that are the result of a classroom shooting? Has she ever held a grieving mother who lost her "baby" or watched a heartbroken father eloquently address the media? Has she ever comforted a parent who felt lost because an only child had been killed? Has she ever listened to a father who will never escort his daughter down the aisle or a mother who will never have grandchildren? Does she have a child who lost his best friend and she has to explain why? Has she ever seen the sadness of loss in the eyes of neighbors and friends? Has she ever found herself giving someone a reason to live every day because that person lost a loved one to gun violence?

How about I turn that around? My wife and children kiss someone every day who, had he not had a gun to defend himself, would be one of those blood spattered people she opines about. In fact, there's hundreds of stories a month available of people who defend their lives with firearms, way more than the number of high profile shootings you hear in the news.

I have had these experiences, and seeing defiance and jubilance over a ruling that fosters such anguish is difficult to bear.

This ruling fosters nothing but a rare reversal in our government to trust the people with the tools necessary to defend themselves. Jubilation is called for when the government gives back control.

As for the anguish she feels, she should turn that anger towards those who caused her that pain, not the tool they used to do it. Does this lady blame the clothing company that made the pants the thugs wore when they committed the crime? Why not?

There has to be a middle ground. We must find it so that others do not have to answer yes to my questions and be haunted forever.

LU ANN MACIULLA McNABB

No, we do not need to find middle ground. Middle ground is code speak for "you give up something for me". If Ms. McNabb truly wants "middle ground" then let's knock off half the federal gun laws (that would be 10,000 of them).

However, Ms. McNabb's calculus doesn't add up, I can't much expect her to even grasp fractions.