RE: Gun law debate intensifies; shooting victims' families unite
I’m finding it difficult not to respond to the ridiculous statements made by Tom Teves and his wife Caren on the same emotional, arrogant, ignorant and illogical level from which they speak.
Tom states:
"Not every bozo should be able to get a gun. You can't give me a good reason to have an automatic weapon. If you can't shoot a deer with one bullet and kill it, then you're not a sportsman."
And:
"When are you, Mr. President, going to do something? Nobody, unless you're in that club, should talk. It's the worst club in the world, and it has the highest dues."
Caren basically echoes those statements in her plea to President Obama and Congress:
"Mr. President, Congress, WE WANT A SAFER NATION."
Well, Tom and Caren, let me first state that I’m not a member of that club. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you and the other family members of victims of violence. I won’t pretend to know what you’re going through.
However, being a victim of violence in no way empowers you to have the sole voice in speaking out. It’s not enough that you want to restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun-owners. Now you want to take away the First Amendment rights of others, too.
I have a son who’s left home six times to serve in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fortunately, he’s returned home safely each time and I thank God for that. But there are thousands of other families who haven’t been so fortunate with those they’ve sent off to war. Their sons and daughters willingly sacrificed everything so you and Caren can spout your nonsense. What about those families, Tom? Do they not have the right to speak out on this issue? I served in the military for fourteen years and as a law enforcement officer for almost as long. Do I, and other veterans like me, not have the right to speak on this issue because you lost someone to violence?
I have news for you, Tom. You don’t own exclusive rights to victimhood because violence has touched your family.
And I’m sick and tired of you, Caren, Tom Mauser and others who think like you constantly looking for knee-jerk solutions to problems that exist only in your uninformed minds.
Your ignorance on the subject of guns and gun violence is mind-boggling. Legally acquired “automatic” weapons are highly regulated and have been used in only two crimes of which I’m aware since the 1934 National Firearms Act was signed into law. So, obviously you’re talking about semi-automatic firearms.
It’s annoying and frustrating to have to listen to people like you and Tom Mauser every time a tragedy like this happens. All of the gun laws in the world are not going to prevent these things regardless of how much you want to restrict my right to not only own guns but to speak in response to your emotional rhetoric. It’s annoying but I don’t call for you to be silenced as though you have no right to speak out. Those who perpetuate these crimes are already breaking various laws…laws that didn’t stop them from committing their horrific acts. That’s why we call them criminals.
And stop with the “you don’t need automatic guns for hunting” platitudes. Hunting has nothing to do with the Second Amendment and you only make yourself sound foolish and uninformed by parroting that old, worn-out stupidity. Not to mention noone uses an “automatic” gun for hunting.
I noticed the Denver Post had to bring up the obligatory reference to the infamous “assault rifle” in this report. An “assault rifle” that wasn’t used in the crimes at the school. An “assault rifle” that was found in the gunman’s car…not “assaulting” anyone.
A United States Department of Justice study on the effectiveness of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban found these types of guns were used in a very small percentage of gun crime and that the ban had virtually no effect on gun violence. The cities in this country with the highest incidence of gun violence frequently have the strictest laws against possession of guns. The only thing gun control accomplishes is to ensure there are more innocent victims of gun violence because it takes away the best means for most people to defend themselves.
It’s estimated that gun owners lawfully use guns to protect themselves or someone else over two million times per year against violence. That number is far higher than the number of times a gun is used in a crime.
Furthermore, semi-automatic versions of military-style rifles and semi-automatic handguns are exactly the types of guns that law-abiding civilians should own and learn to effectively use in order to best protect themselves and their families from violent criminals. And these are exactly the types of guns that the American people should have to defend their way of life against potential tyrants in government. You may look at the three hundred million guns in the hands of American citizens as a problem. I see it not only as a means of protection but as insurance for the People against a government out of control. This, by the way, was part of the reason the Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amendment.
You do yourself and your lost loved one a disservice when you call for restricting the rights of others not only to have a gun for protection of themselves and their loved ones but to speak out against the violence in our society.
Unfortunately you, your wife and Tom Mauser aren’t the only family members of victims out there. And there will be others. I refuse to allow you and the likes of Mauser to continually chip away at the right of me and my family to possess the best tools available to defend ourselves against the type of person who brought violence to your family. You need to come to grips with the fact that bad things happen to good people all the time and it can’t always be prevented or foreseen.
The left’s worn out calls for “gun safety”, “common sense gun laws” and “reasonable restrictions” have nothing to do with safety, common sense or reason. They have everything to do with control.
We are our own worse enemy
by GoldenEagle1 on Today, 8:18 am #2790112
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Originally Posted by Mtn.man
