To the editor:

I have some questions for Neil Brown regarding his letter in the Aug. 1 Public Forum. First, have you recently attempted to purchase an aluminum bat at a local sporting goods store? And secondly, have you recently attempted to purchase a firearm?

Because the Consumer Product Safety Commission (an agency of doubtful constitutional authority) does not regulate firearms does not mean that firearms are not regulated by the federal government. Firearms are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, an agency created in 1934 to collect excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco and firearms and given regulatory powers over firearms in 1968. Further, if you check the criminal codes of Kansas and the United States you will find that there are sanctions for unlawful use of firearms – it is not a federal crime with a mandatory sentence to use an alloy bat to rob a liquor store.

On Dec. 15, 1791, 10 articles of amendments to the Constitution were adopted, having been ratified by the requisite number of states. None of these articles are “benign” to those believing that governmental power should go unchecked.

Earl L. Haehl,

Lawrence