People in blogs, letters to the editor, and public statements have argued that they have a right to own any weapon so they can resist the government.

Samuel Adams answered them 227 years ago: “In monarchies, the crime of treason and rebellion may admit of being pardoned or lightly punished, but the man who dares rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.”

Adoption of the Constitution establishing our Republic invalidated the Declaration of Independence’s “right of rebellion.”

Semi-automatic firearms designed to accept detachable magazines should be regulated, not banned, under the National Firearms Act of 1934. The Heller decision should not stand in the way of regulating some handguns.

If firearms are to be regulated, regulate them for their functionality – the rate at which they can discharge bullets, their concealability, and the lethality of the bullet not cosmetics. The configuration of the firearm – handgun, rifle, shotgun – matters not. How dangerous the firearm is should determine how it is regulated.

We are not powerless to limit tragedies like Aurora and Newtown.

Twenty children is too high a price to pay.

Jon Albrecht, Dixfield