A recent opinion by a Maine gun rights organization director noted she “refused to be a victim,” aided by a gun at her side (“Letter: We must remain armed and disciplined,” Nov. 7). I am left to wonder how self-selecting out of victimhood, along with gun ownership, will aid the writer while attending a large sporting/entertainment event (where guns are not allowed) as hundreds of bullets come from a quarter mile away (Las Vegas, 2017), killing 60 and injuring hundreds. Similarly, how it will keep her kids safe in school, or a house of worship, when a decidedly victim-seeking killer has already entered at a time when the writer, safely ensconced in their the self-proclaimed non-victimhood with gun at hand, sits miles away from her children?

The writer offers a reframing of the trite “guns don’t kill people, sick people do.” The fact is that recent studies show that about 5% of mass shootings are related to severe mental illness, according to an analysis by Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry.

A full decade before the Second Amendment, which noted a well-regulated militia and the right to bear arms, the Declaration of Independence was written, stating all men were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Why are the few trying to undo the divine rights of all by bestowing the few with unneeded access to military weapons of death while abrogating the many’s rights of life and happiness? Likely because the 6,000 U.S. children killed or injured by gunfire in 2022 did not have multimillion dollar PACs and gun manufacturers touting their rights!

Mike Deltergo
Falmouth