Dennis Olson
New member
I'm not as eloqent as many of you here. I emailed the journalist who was supposedly nearly fired for being pro-gun-rights. He wrote a column about the massive letter-writing campaing his paper (and he) received. But one line in his column bothered me enough to write him. The contents of that email are below. I just thought I'd shamlessly troll for feedback on my pitiful attempt.... (Oh, here's the URL for his column: http://www.thefiringline.com:8080/forums/showthread.php?threadid=39869 )
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Dear Mr. Carpenter,
I read with interest both your original column, as well as your latest, "GUN COLUMN DIDN'T BRING TERMINATION". First, please let me say that I'm happy that you weren't punished for your "thought crimes" regarding gun rights.
I am particularly interested in this statement in your latest article: "The deluge of support, then, was seemingly orchestrated by the special interests who also support the Second Amendment."
Please allow me to dispel this notion. I post regularly to a BBS of firearms enthusiasts. (FYI, the board is: http://www.thefiringline.com ) One day, I ran across a copy of your earlier article posted there, with a message that "the author is under threat of termination. Let his paper know how you feel, and show him your support."
This post was from a "regular" person. No "special interest group" was represented. We are not spokespersons for the NRA (nor are we in their employ). Anyway, I thought I'd explain a bit about myself as a representative of the "Gun Culture".
I am a white male, aged 42. I have a wife and two teen boys. I have a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, and am a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). I am self-employed as a computer consultant, as I have been for a decade. I hunt occasionally, and love to go to the range and exercise my shooting skills. This year, for the first time ever, I joined the NRA. I also joined the GOA (www.GunOwners.org), the JPFO (www.JPF
rg), and the SAF (www.SAF.org). (I joined these organizations specifically due to the assault on our rights that has been in evidence in recent years.)
I am a member of the Mormon church, and consider myself a lifelong conservative Democrat (that's right, we DO exist). I have been around firearms since age 13. Some of my most precious memories revolve around those years when, accompanied by my dog and a single shot .22 rifle, we stalked the woods in search of.... whatever. Never killed an animal, but I loved the time we spent together.
These days, I have begun buying guns and ammunition at an increasing pace, because I want to pass this legacy down to my children (and they to theirs), and feel strongly that theirs is the last generation to have exposure to the Gun Culture. The demons of Political Correctness and ignorance, in ever-increasing waves of hand-wringing hysteria, are on a violent (yes, violent) crusade to end the Gun Culture, and remove forever our fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
I said violent for a reason. Just like the more militant anti-abortionists, these anti-gun-rights (pro-criminal) people are beginning to physically attack those who hold meetings supporting the Second Amendment. Hostile words, vile epithets, and even physical attacks are becoming a regular occurrence across the country today. That many of the gun rights supporters are armed, but take no action against their attackers, speaks far more eloquently than I about exactly who is in "control" of themselves in these exchanges.
Phony "advocacy" groups such as the Million Mom March are organized and marketed as grass-roots movements. The Moms in particular, are phony, as that group was started by a close friend of Hillary Clinton, and funded in part by the Democratic National Committee. Further, they have been granted tax-exempt status, even though such status is forbidden to political lobby groups. This is an issue because this movement has stated FOR THE RECORD that they will now employ lobbyists in congress to promote their agenda, in direct violation of the law. At least the NRA doesn't try to slip into a false guise of a similar nature.
I, along with 80 million others, are just "regular people". I have found that we are, in general, more educated than the "average" American. We earn more money. We value family life. We contribute to society in myriad positive ways. And yet, because we own guns, we are treated as if we are tobacco chewing, pickup driving (I drive an Olds Aurora) filthy, uneducated skinheads. In reality, we are highly educated, highly paid professionals (I personally earn in the low six-figures per year) who wish to be allowed to care for ourselves and our loved ones.
The guns we own are treated like child pornography. Gun sales are banned in newspapers, they have to be locked in the trunk of a car inside a steel box, and many of us cannot carry a gun for personal/family defense. If we speak of our hobby outside our home, we are looked upon as dangerous wackos, just waiting for a chance to "go postal". I served my country in the Armed Forces back in the 70's. I took the oath to "support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." I was given a gun then, and entrusted with the freedom of my country. Yet now, years after my exit from military service, I am somehow "not worthy" of being entrusted with gun ownership. I have become "Bubba".
The words of the Second Amendment are clear: "...the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The words of the Tenth Amendment are equally clear: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, NOR PROHIBITED BY IT TO THE STATES, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
That means that the states can NOT enact any law that is a violation of any clause of the Constitution. The words "The People" are also used in the first, fourth, and fifth Amendments. Yet no one questions the wording of these. The Supreme Court has ruled in the past that the Constitutional references to "The People" confers an INDIVIDUAL right, not a collective one.
So what does this mean? It means that every American has the right to arm themselves against attack. It means that every American has the right to LIVE, and to defend their lives with any means necessary, INCLUDING firearms. It means that the government has NO CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY (thanks Mr. Gore) to regulate firearms possession in any way. It means that ALL 22,000 gun laws in the U.S. are, technically, unconstitutional.
I'll not argue the need to keep guns out of certain hands. But for law-abiding adults, the right to carry a gun for personal protection is ABSOLUTELY protected. The Second Amendment does NOT mention: photo ID's, background checks, waiting periods, "assault weapon" restrictions, and gun registration. We have the RIGHT to have them. Period. End of story.
I'll leave you with a question: What government agency has the right to order the deaths of myself or my children, or the rape of my wife, in order to satisfy the unreachable ideal of a "safe society"? I'd really like to know.
Yours,
Dennis Olson
[This message has been edited by Dennis Olson (edited October 13, 2000).]
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Dear Mr. Carpenter,
I read with interest both your original column, as well as your latest, "GUN COLUMN DIDN'T BRING TERMINATION". First, please let me say that I'm happy that you weren't punished for your "thought crimes" regarding gun rights.
I am particularly interested in this statement in your latest article: "The deluge of support, then, was seemingly orchestrated by the special interests who also support the Second Amendment."
Please allow me to dispel this notion. I post regularly to a BBS of firearms enthusiasts. (FYI, the board is: http://www.thefiringline.com ) One day, I ran across a copy of your earlier article posted there, with a message that "the author is under threat of termination. Let his paper know how you feel, and show him your support."
This post was from a "regular" person. No "special interest group" was represented. We are not spokespersons for the NRA (nor are we in their employ). Anyway, I thought I'd explain a bit about myself as a representative of the "Gun Culture".
I am a white male, aged 42. I have a wife and two teen boys. I have a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, and am a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). I am self-employed as a computer consultant, as I have been for a decade. I hunt occasionally, and love to go to the range and exercise my shooting skills. This year, for the first time ever, I joined the NRA. I also joined the GOA (www.GunOwners.org), the JPFO (www.JPF
rg), and the SAF (www.SAF.org). (I joined these organizations specifically due to the assault on our rights that has been in evidence in recent years.)I am a member of the Mormon church, and consider myself a lifelong conservative Democrat (that's right, we DO exist). I have been around firearms since age 13. Some of my most precious memories revolve around those years when, accompanied by my dog and a single shot .22 rifle, we stalked the woods in search of.... whatever. Never killed an animal, but I loved the time we spent together.
These days, I have begun buying guns and ammunition at an increasing pace, because I want to pass this legacy down to my children (and they to theirs), and feel strongly that theirs is the last generation to have exposure to the Gun Culture. The demons of Political Correctness and ignorance, in ever-increasing waves of hand-wringing hysteria, are on a violent (yes, violent) crusade to end the Gun Culture, and remove forever our fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
I said violent for a reason. Just like the more militant anti-abortionists, these anti-gun-rights (pro-criminal) people are beginning to physically attack those who hold meetings supporting the Second Amendment. Hostile words, vile epithets, and even physical attacks are becoming a regular occurrence across the country today. That many of the gun rights supporters are armed, but take no action against their attackers, speaks far more eloquently than I about exactly who is in "control" of themselves in these exchanges.
Phony "advocacy" groups such as the Million Mom March are organized and marketed as grass-roots movements. The Moms in particular, are phony, as that group was started by a close friend of Hillary Clinton, and funded in part by the Democratic National Committee. Further, they have been granted tax-exempt status, even though such status is forbidden to political lobby groups. This is an issue because this movement has stated FOR THE RECORD that they will now employ lobbyists in congress to promote their agenda, in direct violation of the law. At least the NRA doesn't try to slip into a false guise of a similar nature.
I, along with 80 million others, are just "regular people". I have found that we are, in general, more educated than the "average" American. We earn more money. We value family life. We contribute to society in myriad positive ways. And yet, because we own guns, we are treated as if we are tobacco chewing, pickup driving (I drive an Olds Aurora) filthy, uneducated skinheads. In reality, we are highly educated, highly paid professionals (I personally earn in the low six-figures per year) who wish to be allowed to care for ourselves and our loved ones.
The guns we own are treated like child pornography. Gun sales are banned in newspapers, they have to be locked in the trunk of a car inside a steel box, and many of us cannot carry a gun for personal/family defense. If we speak of our hobby outside our home, we are looked upon as dangerous wackos, just waiting for a chance to "go postal". I served my country in the Armed Forces back in the 70's. I took the oath to "support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." I was given a gun then, and entrusted with the freedom of my country. Yet now, years after my exit from military service, I am somehow "not worthy" of being entrusted with gun ownership. I have become "Bubba".
The words of the Second Amendment are clear: "...the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The words of the Tenth Amendment are equally clear: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, NOR PROHIBITED BY IT TO THE STATES, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
That means that the states can NOT enact any law that is a violation of any clause of the Constitution. The words "The People" are also used in the first, fourth, and fifth Amendments. Yet no one questions the wording of these. The Supreme Court has ruled in the past that the Constitutional references to "The People" confers an INDIVIDUAL right, not a collective one.
So what does this mean? It means that every American has the right to arm themselves against attack. It means that every American has the right to LIVE, and to defend their lives with any means necessary, INCLUDING firearms. It means that the government has NO CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY (thanks Mr. Gore) to regulate firearms possession in any way. It means that ALL 22,000 gun laws in the U.S. are, technically, unconstitutional.
I'll not argue the need to keep guns out of certain hands. But for law-abiding adults, the right to carry a gun for personal protection is ABSOLUTELY protected. The Second Amendment does NOT mention: photo ID's, background checks, waiting periods, "assault weapon" restrictions, and gun registration. We have the RIGHT to have them. Period. End of story.
I'll leave you with a question: What government agency has the right to order the deaths of myself or my children, or the rape of my wife, in order to satisfy the unreachable ideal of a "safe society"? I'd really like to know.
Yours,
Dennis Olson
[This message has been edited by Dennis Olson (edited October 13, 2000).]