To the Editor:

I’m a gun person. I got my first rifle when I was 9 years old. As a teenager, I owned nearly 20 firearms. I didn’t think of any of them as weapons; they were all for hunting, muzzleloader shooting, or hanging on the wall as antiques.

As strange as it sounds, I’ve never been able to give approval to the National Rifle Association’s approach to gun ownership. It’s always been obvious to me that certain people have no business in possessing a firearm. The problem is that we don’t have the ability to see into a person’s mind to know their intentions. So, up to now, I’ve been against all forms of gun control.

The heinous murder of 19 beautiful children and their teachers has totally horrified me. The fact that I’ve been to Uvalde during past years doing nature photography in Texas makes these killings very real to me. There have been other mass shootings that were very upsetting, but with this latest one, I am convinced that it is time to outlaw all rapid-fire, high-capacity weapons from public ownership.

Now, I can hear objections from advocates of the 2nd Amendment: “What about my rights?” In reply, what about the rights of children to go to school without fearing for their lives? What about their rights to expect to be able to go home to their families? What about their parents’ and brothers’ and sisters’ rights to go forward in life without nightmares of their loss?

Your rights pale in comparison to these babies’ right to life. The Second Amendment was written as an amendment for the times they were living in. Perhaps it’s time for another amendment for the current times we are living (and dying) in.

 Terry Steele

Ritter