The First Amendment guarantees our right to peaceably assemble. The second, as currently interpreted, guarantees our right to carry guns. These two rights are in tension these days; anytime we assemble peaceably — for school, a show, a parade, anything —there is the non-theoretical possibility that somebody will start shooting at us. What to do? Plainly enough, the guns aren’t going away.

There are hundreds of millions on the streets already, and more being sold every day. If it’s a “mental health” problem, it’s a longstanding health problem that nobody has a handle on. We are plainly unable to prevent the shootings, so maybe we should prevent the peaceable assemblies. What we need to do is ban all gatherings of more than three people for any reason.

A mass shooting, by current definition, involves at least four people getting shot, you see, so by banning gatherings of four or more we can prevent mass shootings. It is true that this will outlaw school, church, sporting events, political rallies and, come to think of it, most workplaces. However, it will prevent mass shootings going forward. It’s a high price to pay, but we do love our Second Amendment. Got a better idea?

Eric Kuhn

Middletown