I’m an Army veteran who has a plain old hunting rifle. Revisiting the 18th century guns, I feel that those ancient guns and my rifle fit the Founders’ concept of “a well-regulated militia.” Our mass shootings problem is not because of those whom National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch called “crazy” on CNN – a label I find offensive.

The NRA and the gun manufacturers they represent want us to think that shootings are a reflection of mental illness. But the real problem is obvious: Sportsmen and other civilians do not need more than a six-shot weapon. Even more importantly, we in the U.S. have too damn many guns.

Joseph Hachey

Gorham