Columbia, SC — The four conservative members of the United States Supreme Court appear to be “Originalists” in that they do not believe that the U.S. Constitution is a flexible, changeable document dependent on the current needs of our country. This position, in fact, was envisioned by the Founders, who established ways to amend the Constitution by ratification of three-quarters of the states. To date, this process has produced 28 amendments to the Constitution.

With the senseless slaughter of innocents by firearms, it is time to amend the Second Amendment to restrict the sale and possession of handguns and assault weapons. In 2010, 31,076 Americans died by homicide, suicide and accidental shootings by guns. Another 73,505 Americans were treated in hospitals for gunshot wounds.

Perhaps if the Founders had known that modern handguns and assault weapons can fire better than one bullet per second, they would have included some restrictions to prevent our present-day carnage.

Philip W. Wolfe

Bluffton