Dear Editor:

Downey is fortunate to have a local newspaper that allows different opinions to be published.

In response to a contributor that questioned the funding of our military: our military consists of patriotic volunteers. 7.3% of all living Americans have served in the military at some point in their lives. Our military deserves the best equipment money can buy.

Yes, there is waste, fraud and abuse that can be solved with better oversight, but we must fund our military. China could possibly overtake the US in military power within a decade (non-nuclear). I have 42 years of military and law enforcement experience and I know what defunding can do.

The Second Amendment will always be debated. “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state.” This means that the state has the right to protect itself from the federal government’s unlawful laws and its standing army. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The people have the right to arms to form organized and unorganized militia to protect themselves from the federal government.

The armed forces and law enforcement are not a well-regulated militia. Law enforcement enforced the state’s penal code. Posse Comitatus prevents the Army and Air Force from being used against US citizens on US soil. Only if the state is unable or refuses to quell lawlessness can they be used. The Navy and Marine Corps can be activated, for example, if Los Angeles riots.

Great Britain and its colonies do not have a 2nd Amendment. That is why all firearms were confiscated. Knives and tools cannot be carried on your person. You can go to prison defending yourself against a violent criminal.

My last topic is gun-related deaths. 65% of gun deaths are from suicide. Less than 1% are from “assault weapons.” Mass murder statistics are misleading. Four or more deaths are considered mass murder. 373 people died from mass shootings in 2018. 40,000 deaths occurred from car crashes in 2018. 4.5 million people were seriously injured in 2018. Where is the outrage?

Bob Rodriguez
Downey