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tatters

New member
My letter as the paper printed it. Not too much editorial license. They took a little out that didn't change the meaning.

As we know, owning a firearm these days is not in fashion. In fact, it is seen as a crime against humanity by some. We stand dumbfounded as a 6-year-old dies at the hands of another using a firearm. If you are a caring parent, these tragedies strike close to home.

In the media, these events are top stories, as well they should be. Yes, a gun death is a horrible thing, especially when it involves a child, and one innocent victim is too many. I ask you to please keep one thing in mind: This terrible tragedy is still an isolated case. We must make sure we don't punish the majority for the sins of the few.

It has been my experience that safe, responsible gun owners are the rule rather than the exception. We live here, in "small-town U.S.A.," where deer season is cause to take off work, and farmers use guns frequently for predator control. Around here, lots of kids grew up shooting cans off fence posts. Many people legally carry firearms for protection. Are we all wrong?

The anti-gun folks want the public to see the terrible carnage brought forth by the evil gun. They don't want you to see the times a firearm is used to thwart an attack by some thug on an innocent citizen while away or in the home. They want you to believe that guns are the cause of crime, and if you have a gun, you intend to do harm to someone or something or will soon injure a member of your own household. If this is so, why don't I hear gunfire in my neighborhood?

Let's face the facts. Criminals have guns. Jim Didier and Prince Chapman, two beloved and respected citizens, died at the hands of the very type of individual we strive to protect ourselves and our families from. Is our desire to do so with a firearm that unreasonable?

An innocent child has died due to the irresponsibility of an adult, but let's keep perspective regarding the gun-control issue. More gun laws would not have helped here. Common sense cannot be legislated.





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Knock twice. Rap with your cane. Feels nice. You're out of the rain. We got your skinny girls. Here at the Western World
from Steely Dan's "Western World"
 
Very well said Tatters. We need more people like you.

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Gunslinger

We live in a time in which attitudes and deeds once respected as courageous and honorable are now scorned as being antiquated and subversive.
 
tatters - Another well written letter by you. My compliments.

Strange as it may seem, written from a California resident perspective, I believe the tide is beginning to turn.

Our state government may be deaf and the media still achingly liberal, but the people... well... here is the headline in "The Saturday Forum" (letters to the editor) of the Contra Costa Times published 03/11/2000.

Writers say we must control parents' behavior, not guns.

A ray of sunshine, hopefully, from those of us in the occupied territory.

Cliff
 
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