OP-ED in KC, and my reply to an editor

[MLeake]

Opinion columnist Barb Shelly, not known for being friendly to 2A issues, wrote the following piece, that criticized the Platte County prosecutor for saying that an (apparently) accidental homicide at a Super Bowl party was not a "gun issue," per se, because the shooter was a prohibited person and should not have had a gun:

http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/sorry-super-bowl-party-homicide-gun-issue/

Unfortunately, replying directly to columns or columnists at the Star requires that one have a facebook account. Since I do not, I sent the following email to Derek Donovan, the editor who replies to complaints, criticisms, etc. (Derek and I have an ongoing email dialogue. He seems like a pretty good guy.)

Hey, Derek,

I don't use facebook, which makes it difficult to respond directly to your columnists. Would you mind asking Barb Shelly if she thinks there should have been background checks required for the drugs the shooter at the Super Bowl party had been using, too?

I mean, he wasn't just a felon in possession of a gun, but he was also in possession of illegal drugs.

While you are at it, would you point out to her that the most recent figures I could find showed that 80% of criminals obtained their weapons via friends, family, or through theft. One has to assume the felons' friends and family knew they were prohibited persons at the time of the transfer, and so showed they don't worry about pesky laws anyway.

Please also let her know that many of us understand that "universal background checks" are a stepping stone toward registration and confiscation.

This is not paranoia; this is analysis based on past history in western nations, and on stated goals from people on the gun control side.

Registries in the UK, Canada, and Australia led to confiscation. New York state's recently passed (but currently challenged) SAFE Act was passed under questionable circumstances, but among other things it calls for eventual confiscations. Those who call supporters of the Second Amendment paranoid for seeing ulterior motives behind the calls for background checks seem unaware of Santayana's maxim on the perils of not learning from history - or else they hope that the people on my side missed school the day they went over it.

And, of course, Senator Feinstein's 1995 quote about her desire to pass a law requiring universal confiscation (in an interview on 60 Minutes) is not something any of us forget; nor do we forget the old Handgun Control, Incorporated's published strategy of incremental steps toward universal confiscation.

Last, though this didn't come up in today's editorial, please note that by the latest numbers posted by the feds, only 16% to 18% of gun owners these days are hunters. So, for all the gun control types spouting the usual drivel about "We aren't trying to take your hunting rifles!" the divide and conquer game might not play quite so well.

Thanks,

....

 

[BudW]

Good job!