Spirit of Second Amendment much older than we think
In the mid-14th Century, when King Edward ordered all of his male chattel to train and to become proficient with the longbow, he unintentionally set in motion the mantra of individual peasants defending their homes and to equalize their individual capabilities against mounted and armored noblemen.
The longbow prevented mounted and armored noblemen from closing with the ranks of peasants.
The battles of Agincourt and Crecy are definitive proof of the superiority of individually armed peasants pitted against privileged elites.
It was a lesson that the British on their return from Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, had to relearn.
The spirit of the Second Amendment is at least 700 years old.
GEORGE A. MITCHELL, BLAIRSVILLE
Reader: Columnists’ arguments on D.C. misleading
Pat Buchanan’s column “Power grab behind Dems’ drive for D.C. statehood,” Opinion, May 2, reminds me of the adage, “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.”
Buchanan argues against statehood for the District of Columbia by noting that it has much less land than states as if members of Congress represent land rather than people. He notes that many cities have more population than D.C,. but neglects to note the D.C. has more population than some states. The citizens of D.C., unlike those in states, are U.S. citizens with no representation in Congress. Buchanan doesn’t mention that. He says that Democrats want D.C .statehood because it votes Democratic.
He is not bothered by the fact that Wyoming with less population than D.C. consistently votes Republican. Buchanan doesn’t acknowledge that he opposes giving D.C.’s 700,000 citizens a voice in Congress because they are too Democratic. Buchanan’s political position against D.C. statehood is not as troubling as the misleading, hypocritical arguments he uses.
LARRY AUERBACH, ATLANTA
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