life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness . . .

Op-ed in greenwich time by Jonathan Perloe, a member of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee, discussing securing rights . . .

The N.R.A. and gun-rights advocates are quick to use the Constitution to defend unfettered access to even the most lethal firearms. But before the Constitution there was the Declaration of Independence, which asserts that we are endowed with certain unalienable rights, including those of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It continues, "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted..."

It is time now for government to protect our right to life from the threat of gun violence. It is time for politicians to put this right on the same pedestal they afford the right to bear arms. It is time for them to heed Supreme Court Justice Scalia, who said, "like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited." [...]

Common sense regulation is urgently needed to protect the lives of Americans in their places of work, houses of worship, shopping centers, movie theaters, parks and schools. [...] But little is going to change unless concerned citizens speak out and demand action from politicians.