Citizen with deep aversion against guns buys a gun!

T

theinvisibleheart

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http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/29/Opinion/Today_s_Letters__The_.shtml
The armed citizen is ready to defend himself
By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published April 29, 2007

I bought a gun April 22, Perspective story

It is obvious that young Brendan Watson has a deep aversion against guns, and he did everything possible to avoid buying one. However, after doing everything he could to improve home security (lighting, locks, etc.) he finally reached the conclusion that owning a gun offered him the best chance of increased personal safety.

Does it really matter if his feeling of being safer because he now owns a gun is real or perceived? The important thing is that after arming himself he is now able to defend himself if necessary.

I find it significant that his decision was shaped, in part, by repeated police recommendations to buy a gun as the best means to protect himself. If ever a case illustrated the critical importance of the right to own guns, Watson's situation certainly does.

In every state where concealed weapon permits are allowed, the rate of violent crimes with guns has been greatly reduced (including Florida, with about a half a million concealed weapon permits).

If Watson does take the next step for a concealed permit, as so many of us have, he will be photographed, fingerprinted, have a thorough background check, and complete classroom and firing range training.

As a trained, law-abiding gun owner, I have absolutely no problem with Watson owning a weapon, and I welcome him to our ranks.

The simple truth is that the legal gun owners are not out shooting people in fits of anger or committing gun crimes, but are using this important tool as a means to help defend themselves and their families from those who would do them harm.

--John W. McBaine, Indian Shores
 
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THE LETTER:

No place to teach

Campus weapon debate returns April 23, story

I taught in university classrooms for 30 years. As I watch this debate unfold, I wonder how many of my colleagues would think of entering a classroom to teach if there were the possibility that one or more of the students in the class were carrying handguns legally. I'd be willing to bet that almost none would teach in such a situation.

The idea that people can imagine that students carrying handguns could be an answer to the horror that took place at Virginia Tech appalls me.

Pete Temko, Belleair Beach
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THE RESPONSE:

You are standing before two doors. Behind one of those doors are 100 people who are legally carrying a concealed weapon. All of these people are law abiding citizens with no criminal record.

Behind the other door, there are also 100 people but only one of these people is carrying a concealed weapon. He is carrying that firearm illegally. He has a long criminal history of violence.

You must enter one of these doors.

Which one do you choose?

THE LETTER:

Guns are different now

The shooting at Virginia Tech brings up the debate of gun control again. The constitutional right to own guns was written at a time when single-shot weapons were the only guns available.

I wonder if our Founding Fathers would have reconsidered their position in light of the technological advances the gun industry has made from one-shot guns to those capable of shooting multiple rounds in less time than it took to load a single-shot weapon.

Lynn Tarbox, Tampa
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THE RESPONSE:

The authors of the constitution were the ones who founded the United States Patent office so changes in technology were, indeed, on their minds when they wrote the constitution.

These same men had watched firearms technology advance from touchhole hand cannons to matchlocks to flintlocks; and it was within some of their lifetimes that they saw the invention of the purcussion cap which would come to general use thirty years later.

So to say that they would have rethought their decision is silly based on the progression of firearms they had already witnessed.
 
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