I like guns. I own several firearms and worked as a guide during one deer season before I went into the service. That said, I believe we need some changes.

America has adopted reasonable restrictions in the past to deal with threats to public safety and well-being. The constitutional right to own a firearm is subject to reasonable restrictions – District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 US 570 (2008) (The Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.)

Congress enacted the National Firearms Act in 1934 – amended in 1968 and 1986 – that restricted the possession of fully automatic firearms (machine guns) and other dangerous weapons. Possession of an unlicensed machine gun or sawed off shotgun is a crime. Assault style firearms and large capacity magazines (more than 10 rounds) were banned by Congress in 1994, but the ban expired in 2004. Federal and state fish and game laws restrict magazine size to three (one in chamber and two in magazine) for migratory birds and six in Maine (one in chamber and five in magazine) for other species.

Military assault-style rifles, with high-capacity magazines, have become the weapon of choice in mass shootings. There is no reason to allow possession of 20- to 50-round magazines to those who wish to harm others. We need our elected officials to show some courage and reenact common sense changes to our firearm-control laws, including universal background checks and a ban on assault-style rifles with high capacity magazines.

John R. Bass
Portland

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