Subject: In light of the Aurora shooting
Issue: Guns/weapons
Message:
Dear Colorado elected officials,
While we all mourn the tragic and senseless loss of our fellow Coloradans and Americans after the tragic events of 7/20/2012, many questions are being raised. How could this have been prevented? How can we do better in the future? Where should we place the blame? But I hear so many asking these and other questions that I feel are wrong with the exception of the first. It has been the policy, and this is no secret, of many entertainment venues, mainly movie theaters, that weapons are not allowed. I understand the meaning behind this and as a concerned citizen I feel that this is disproportionate to reality. Most commonly, in our state as my experience has shown, there are many more responsible gun owners than there are criminals. I am not stating that a responsible concealed carry permit holder could have stopped this horrific rampage, but perhaps a little foresight would have prevented it from even taking place. There are plenty of statistics provided by think tanks and even our highest law enforcement agency, the FBI, that show that locations where there are more relaxed gun control laws there is less violent crime. How is this possible? Deterrence. In locales where criminals are aware that the innocent and honest person is allowed to carry a firearm legally they are less likely to commit violent crimes against them, especially if they do not know who is carrying. If theaters were known as "second amendment friendly zones" allowing the law-abiding citizen to carry their personal means of protection I honestly believe that Mr. Holmes would have at least taken a moment of pause before carrying out his horrible act. I implore you, as our elected representatives in the house and senate, to not give in to the uneducated constituents in their call for more gun control. I would expect it to be common sense that laws only limit those who are willing to follow them, and criminals will not care what the letter of the law states, hence them being criminals. In closing, I'm reminded of the quote by one of our greatest former presidents, Ronald Reagan: "If guns are outlawed, only the outlaws will have guns." So, as a Colorado voter, I ask that you continue to make our state great and to not pass any more gun control legislation. More laws will not stop criminals from doing evil upon the innocent, they only tie the hands of the honest, law abiding citizen.
Thank you for your time,
Ryan C. Dxxxxxxx
Evergreen, CO
720-xxx-xxxx