To the editor:

In the Jan. 12 Record, Ms. Linda Beeman suggests, “I think we must … ask ourselves how many times we’ve used guns to defend ourselves… .”

Good idea. A 1994 survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Americans use guns to frighten away intruders who are breaking into their homes about 498,000 times per year. (This estimate is on the low side — other sources range up to as many as 2.5 million.)

But such utilitarian arguments miss the point altogether. Enemies of limited constitutional government hate guns and the Second Amendment because of the barrier to tyranny provided, as intended by the Founders.

Read “The Federalist Papers” No. 46, by James Madison.

Jon Berg

Freeland