Letter: Stick to legitimate debate on guns

Regarding the letter "Lack of will is blocking meaningful gun control" by Josh Hildebrand, I suggest Mr. Hildebrand check one of his statements. According to the Illinois Bar Association, a militia is not the National Guard.

Just because people today refer to the term "militia" as an institution of government does not make it so. An understanding of the term "militia" requires a historical exploration of how the term was used. Individuals like Justice William Blackstone, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, to name a few, considered militias to be something other than an organized entity of the government.

The understanding these historical figures had of a militia was all private individuals capable of forming groups that would gather together for self-defense.

Is the "right to bear arms" an individual right or a communal right? The Supreme Court answered this question in the Heller ruling stating "the right of the people" appears many times in the U.S. Constitution and the statement refers to individual rights and not communal rights.

What's in question is whether and to what extent reasonable limits Congress or the states can place on the Second Amendment? This is and has been an ongoing debate and needs to be addressed in an intelligent fashion and not by a reaction to just do something that doesn't resolve the issues concerning gun violence and mass shootings.

Kenneth Fron

North Aurora