Militias, Gun Control, and Oklahoma City

The gun-control debate has unleashed more passion than rational discussion. Surprisingly, despite the unfailing references to the Second Amendment by those who feel threatened by any possible abridgment of ''Second Amendment rights,'' not once have I found (in my fairly wide reading of local and national news sources) the Second Amendment quoted in its entirety: ''A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.''

It should be obvious that the authors of this simple statement intended the militia to be under the orders of government, not simply a self-selected group or groups pursuing their own petty interests.

Edward H. Germann Huntsville, Ala.

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