Concerning gun control, the Second Amendment is at stake, but there is also another important issue: Can government be trusted to do the right thing and to act in our best interest? Not really.

Experience has demonstrated that many politicians promise one thing but later they break their commitments. When politicians from the president on down say they only want to conduct background checks and register guns, not confiscate 00them, we should be very wary.

The Soviet Union, Turkey, Germany, China, Guatemala, Uganda and Cambodia implemented gun registration in the 20th century. That eventually led to government confiscation of guns in those countries. Consequently, more than 56 million defenseless, unarmed citizens were rounded up and killed.

Are gun control laws effective? Chicago and Washington, D.C., have some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. They also have some of the highest murder rates. Why? Became gun control laws adversely affect only law-abiding citizens, not criminals or the mentally ill.

But what about police protection? That term is an oxymoron. Police deserve our respect, but most of the time, police are unable to protect people from crime. Usually, they can only investigate a crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Gun control laws under consideration by Congress would only make it more difficult for citizens to defend and protect themselves. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property. With guns, we are citizens. Without them, we are subjects.

Ken Williams

Swansea