OPINION:
We are getting warnings from all branches of law enforcement — from local police to the FBI to the Department of Homeland Security — that a terrorist attack on the U.S. is both probable and imminent (“Threat alert for U.S. is again ‘blinking red’ in Gaza,” web, Jan. 11).
Terrorists have doubtless been among the millions of illegal aliens who have taken advantage of the open-border policies of the Biden administration. What can be done to counter this threat to the homeland? The answer is not to hire them into law enforcement or enlist them in the military. It is to give all ex-service members with an honorable discharge the legal right to bear arms, open or concealed, to deter or counter any terrorist act anywhere in the country without harassment by the police.
Every member of the U.S. armed services took an oath to protect and defend the people and the Constitution of the United States of America from “all enemies foreign and domestic.” This oath didn’t end when we were discharged from military service. It is still as valid today as it was the day we swore that oath.
I can almost guarantee that there will be no police or military present when a terrorist attack is happening — but there is a near mathematical certainty that somewhere in the crowd will be a veteran willing to fight back if he could legally carry a firearm without fear of being jailed if caught.
The Second Amendment is clear when it says that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Our time is running out, but the answer is clear: Let U.S. veterans fulfill their oaths.
MICHAEL A. PACER
Kingman, Arizona
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