Pianomahnn
11-15-2002, 04:16 PM
Here at Northern Illinois University, in the grand city of DeKalb, IL there is a continual debate over guns in the Universitie's Newspaper. Every few editions someone writes in with an opinion about said topic. This one struck home as just sad.
Keep in mind, all of you are evil rednecks if you own guns.
I'll keep you all posted of more occurances of this, as the anti-gun people seem to have the most horribly written letters to the editors, not to mention the worst facts.
http://www.northernstar.info/forum/articles/111502-your.html
Gun owners - the epitome of public enemy
A few weeks back, Brian Papo wrote a letter to the Star proclaiming his love obsession with firearms. In said letter, the author wondered why, since his guns hadn’t actually killed anyone, everyone was in such a tizzy about gun control. He thought maybe his weapons were broken, and he even hinted that he might go get them checked out to make sure they were operating properly. Well, don’t bother – I’m sure, as you imply, they’re operating just fine.
I simply can’t believe arming the public is an appropriate solution to such issues as terrorism and violent crime. How can more guns possibly encourage peace in this nation, which already is filled with an abundance of gun rack-toting, beer-guzzling, red-necked lunatics? Further, “Armed citizens also keep the government from becoming too powerful,” sounds a bit like our old paranoid friend Theodore “Unabomber” Kaczynski.
The truth is, guns do not make the world safe.
Here are the facts:
n In 2000, over 70 percent of the homicides in the United States were committed with firearms.
n In 2001, well over half of the total robberies involved guns of some sort.
This sad list could, unfortunately, go on and on.
But I think you see my point. More guns on the streets, in the hands of law-abiding citizens or not, isn’t the way to go. More firearms only will promote violence, not deter it. Let’s add to the equation that an overwhelming number of homeowners, when being burglarized, are shot with their own weapons, and I think even the most diehard Charlton Heston fanatic would have to admit that weapons in the home are an especially ineffective means of protection, which seems to contradict every thing stated in the aforementioned letter.
More firearms in the hands of everyone is a fine way to stir up hate and intolerance in one another. After all, if you’re annoying me and I have a weapon in my hand, it’d be relatively easy for me to solve the problem, wouldn’t it? Is that really what we want our society to come to? Do we actually want to live in a community where we have to be fearful of our neighbors getting angry and annihilating us with explosive firearms simply because our dog pee’d on their lawn?
I also find the analogy used equating the public to sheep, and gun offenders to wolves unfortunate. This paranoia is not healthy. It seems the writer of the letter was grasping at straws – looking for any excuse to justify hanging on to the toys. Because, the way I see it, I’m the sheep here, and the gun owners are the wolves, living out their little G.I. Joe fantasies with an NRA membership card in their pockets and a confederate flag flying proudly from their truck’s antennae.
I know it’s cliche, but I’d hope people would want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. We, as a community, need to come together in an effort to keep guns out of our homes. We need to protect our children and families, and arming ourselves is simply not the way to do this. Drop your weapons in the name of peace, for having people carrying guns around town certainly doesn’t make me feel any safer.
Ron Felten
Senior, English
Keep in mind, all of you are evil rednecks if you own guns.
I'll keep you all posted of more occurances of this, as the anti-gun people seem to have the most horribly written letters to the editors, not to mention the worst facts.
http://www.northernstar.info/forum/articles/111502-your.html
Gun owners - the epitome of public enemy
A few weeks back, Brian Papo wrote a letter to the Star proclaiming his love obsession with firearms. In said letter, the author wondered why, since his guns hadn’t actually killed anyone, everyone was in such a tizzy about gun control. He thought maybe his weapons were broken, and he even hinted that he might go get them checked out to make sure they were operating properly. Well, don’t bother – I’m sure, as you imply, they’re operating just fine.
I simply can’t believe arming the public is an appropriate solution to such issues as terrorism and violent crime. How can more guns possibly encourage peace in this nation, which already is filled with an abundance of gun rack-toting, beer-guzzling, red-necked lunatics? Further, “Armed citizens also keep the government from becoming too powerful,” sounds a bit like our old paranoid friend Theodore “Unabomber” Kaczynski.
The truth is, guns do not make the world safe.
Here are the facts:
n In 2000, over 70 percent of the homicides in the United States were committed with firearms.
n In 2001, well over half of the total robberies involved guns of some sort.
This sad list could, unfortunately, go on and on.
But I think you see my point. More guns on the streets, in the hands of law-abiding citizens or not, isn’t the way to go. More firearms only will promote violence, not deter it. Let’s add to the equation that an overwhelming number of homeowners, when being burglarized, are shot with their own weapons, and I think even the most diehard Charlton Heston fanatic would have to admit that weapons in the home are an especially ineffective means of protection, which seems to contradict every thing stated in the aforementioned letter.
More firearms in the hands of everyone is a fine way to stir up hate and intolerance in one another. After all, if you’re annoying me and I have a weapon in my hand, it’d be relatively easy for me to solve the problem, wouldn’t it? Is that really what we want our society to come to? Do we actually want to live in a community where we have to be fearful of our neighbors getting angry and annihilating us with explosive firearms simply because our dog pee’d on their lawn?
I also find the analogy used equating the public to sheep, and gun offenders to wolves unfortunate. This paranoia is not healthy. It seems the writer of the letter was grasping at straws – looking for any excuse to justify hanging on to the toys. Because, the way I see it, I’m the sheep here, and the gun owners are the wolves, living out their little G.I. Joe fantasies with an NRA membership card in their pockets and a confederate flag flying proudly from their truck’s antennae.
I know it’s cliche, but I’d hope people would want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. We, as a community, need to come together in an effort to keep guns out of our homes. We need to protect our children and families, and arming ourselves is simply not the way to do this. Drop your weapons in the name of peace, for having people carrying guns around town certainly doesn’t make me feel any safer.
Ron Felten
Senior, English