I NEVER put political statements on my blog. In fact I feel my blog should remain an apolitical zone – I like it staying technology-centric. However in light of recent events, coupled with the fact that my legislators in Washington (such as Senator Patty Murray) have turned a deaf ear to my words, I think it’s time to “nail those words to the church door” so to speak and publicly state my feelings on the matter.
As your constituent, I strongly urge you to oppose any legislation to ban so-called “assault weapons” and “large” ammunition magazines.
A previous ban on these inanimate objects was in effect from 1994-2004 and had no discernible effect on violent crime. In fact, a study of the ban mandated by Congress found: “At best, the assault weapons ban can have only a limited effect on total gun murders, because the banned weapons and magazines were never involved in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders.”
Tens of millions of Americans choose to own semi-automatic firearms with ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds for the same reason as law enforcement officers: they are effective for self-defense. One never knows how many rounds he or she will need for self-defense or defense of others, or how many criminals may attack. Thus having a firearm that allows its lawful user to discharge multiple shots can often be the difference between life and death. In fact, a number of studies have shown that firearms are used for self-defense hundreds of thousands of times to 2.5 million times annually. This amounts to guns being used 3-5 times more often for self-defense than to commit a crime.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
If he were alive today, to see what our elected officials are attempting to do to the freemen and free-women of this nation, he would drop dead on the spot of a broken heart.
I grew up with a father who is a retired a Naval Officer and a Vietnam veteran. My next door neighbor in Napa California was a gun collector. As a child growing up in the 1970s I used to help my neighbor cast bullets. Never once.. NOT ONCE.. was I ever in any danger or in any harm from any of the myriad of arms he owned. My neighbor was a responsible owner and taught ME that same respect for firearms – as did my father. NONE of us were ever harmed by any of his firearms. And no one I knew ever was either.
Every time some sick or evil person does something heinous the government responds with punishing the good people of this once-great nation and taking away more of their rights. Why do I say “once great”? Because when PRAVDA – the TABLOID paper of the former Soviet Union calls the United States a nation of “socialism and moral decay” you know something has gone horribly wrong in this nation and continues to do so.
Once again our elected officials – the public servants who are put in office by vote – are responding to the actions of a lunatic by legislation in violation of the laws and principles this nation was founded upon.
Maybe that’s the difference between us, I was taught to respect the firearm and what it can do from an early age. I’m guessing most of those on Capitol Hill have never fired a gun let alone owned one – all the while enjoying the safety of armed guards at every turn.
But the Second Amendment, that the Democrats seem to revile,isn’t about hunting or muskets, as so many of you try to claim, it is about freedom and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. What part of the phrase “the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” escapes so many of you??
We’ve walked in the same footsteps as our forefathers who fought for their freedoms, so we don’t take it lightly. However, so much of the political elite seem to forget their heritage, or at least ignore it, which is an even bigger tragedy.
I urge all of you to reconsider enacting any new legislation on “gun control”. DC, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois and New York already have some of the toughest laws on the books. It has done *nothing* to stem the tide of gun-related violence in those areas. It HAS, however, left the law-abiding residents of those areas at a severe disadvantage in the ability to protect themselves against criminals. As the son of a veteran, as someone who has friends in law enforcement, I have seen what happens when people are unable to defend themselves. I encourage you to make a stand *against* this irrational punishment against law abiding citizens and vote *against* this insane legislation.
Rather than expanding previously failed legislation that won’t curb violence, but will affect law-abiding gun owners, I urge you to support legislation to enhance school security and improve our nation’s ailing mental health system. We don’t have an issue with guns in this country… we have an issue with crime, punishment, and recidivism in this country. Address that issue.
Please use sanity and reason and stop these affronts to the Second Amendment. Thank you for your time in reading this.
