There are 52 words in the Preamble to the US Constitution. Those few words define this nation by defining the purpose of the Constitution.

"We the people" ordained the Constitution "in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."

"We the people" elect legislators to uphold our Constitution and to make our union more perfect. It is time for our federal and state legislators to "promote domestic tranquility" and "the general welfare," by enacting gun laws that would limit the use of assaults weapons and large capacity magazines to our troops who ‘provide for the common defense.’

It is time for our elected officials to listen to the will of the majority of the voters rather than continue to capitulate to the financial interests of the NRA.

In the name of justice, we owe sensible gun legislation to the thousands of victims of gun violence, including 20 little children in Newtown, Conn. who lost the "blessings of liberty" forever.

Joanne Cabry
Rehoboth Beach