Dear Editor:

Should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, the Wyoming Legislature has passed a “trigger law” bill outlawing abortions in the state. Setting aside the fact that these people have consistently refused to expand Medicaid, restricted the ability of health experts to control deadly diseases, and blocked environmental legislation designed to protect our health (to say nothing of the reasons a pregnant woman might choose an abortion to protect her own health), these are the same legislators, at both the state and federal level, who refuse to address solutions to the number one cause of death among our children — gun violence.

If our founding fathers got one thing right, it is that they designed the Constitution to be a living, breathing document, putting measures in place to modify the document as times change. This is a fact the “Constitutional Originalists” conveniently forget. The only mass shootings that took place in the 18th century required a mass of shooters to execute. If all our firearms today were still muzzle-loaders, it would be impossible for a single shooter to achieve the results we see on an almost daily basis in this day and age. The fact is, we don’t need a constitutional amendment — just a rational interpretation of the existing document to get a handle on the problem. It’s already been done before. Isn’t it a fair argument, if I were a Second Amendment extremist, to say my constitutional right has already been infringed, because I require a special permit to own a machine gun? What if my “arms” of choice is a ballistic missile or nuclear weapon? I’ve said it here before — even the original Originalist Antonin Scalia acknowledged that limits can be placed on the right to bear arms.

Another disgusting platitude: “Guns don’t kill people, people do!” I’m reminded of a saying hanging above the desk of a co-worker: “Guns don’t kill people, bullets do! Guns just make bullets go really fast!”

It’s simple mathematics — the more there are of a dangerous tool, the easier the accessibility to said tool, the more injuries are going to take place as a result of misuse. Even the use of lawnmowers is restricted commercially to people of a certain age.

“It’s a mental health problem,” says John Barrasso. Nonsense. If the definition of crazy is to keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results, then it’s our Republican lawmakers who are crazy. Hey John, let’s pretend it’s a mental health issue: Are you going to introduce legislation to address the problem? Where’s the money coming from?

Phil Anthony

Powell