Dear Editor:

When I started reading Fred Nehring’s newest letter to the editor, I was somewhat amused that he admitted that Americans have an individual right to firearm ownership. Then he ruined it by advocating that Americans should be stripped of their Second Amendment rights by infringing on their Fifth Amendment rights.

Nehring’s premise, if taken at face value, seems at most to be sound. Sure, who doesn’t want to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, right? The problem lies in that these are American citizens we are talking about, and as such, all have the protections afforded by the Bill of Rights. The terror watch list and “no-fly” list are not subject to due process and one does have to be convicted of any wrong doing to wind up on them. Do we really want to give any government administration that kind of power, much less this current one?

The most amazing thing about this new debate about the lists is that some of the very same people who want to use it to circumvent the Second Amendment screamed bloody murder when they were introduced. The thought that someone could be arbitrarily denied travel did not set with them but now that it suits their agenda, everything is coming up roses. Funny, huh?

It has taken three years for my family to convince Nehring that Americans have the right to bear arms. I certainly hope it doesn’t take as long for us to teach him about the Fifth.

Sarah Sample

Boothbay Harbor