Letter: Gun control makes sense when compared with other arguments
January 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm in Worthington Daily Globe
Too often when the topic of gun control surfaces, people fall captive to irrational fears that the government is after our guns. Continue Reading
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Makes sense to me too. People should keep an open mind. I think what she wrote makes a lot of sense.
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This is one of the most ridiculous, naive, uninformed letters I’ve seen in a long time.
“assault weapons have no alternate uses — they are designed to kill humans”
This statement alone shows how out of touch you are and you have no knowledge of guns!
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The Globe will be happy to print your rebuttal, pat e., in which you detail ALL the PRACTICAL uses for assault weapons in daily life. You will have an opportunity to demonstrate your vast knowledge of guns.
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I totally agree eastender… i would be interested to hear what other uses besides killing something that assault guns are used for….hmmm
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To the ignorant eye a car would have ‘no other use than transportation’ correct? I think we all know there are several uses for a car other than its major intention; transportation. Just like cars, there are other uses for modern sporting rifles, which is the correct name for what this story refers to. Assault rifles have been banned since 1986 and are not available to the general public, get your facts straight.
I believe the author, April, could ask her own father and brother about the several other uses modern sporting rifles have other than ‘killing something’.
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JD – Why not save April the trouble of having to ask her relatives about the practical uses of “modern sporting rifles” and put the list here? Many of us would like to know because the “logic” escapes us. Write your own letter to the editor.
Facts are messy things, aren’t they? You have the nerve to tell others to get “their facts straight” when, in fact, you don’t have yours!
The 10-year-ban on assault weapons, implemented in 1994, expired in 2004 and was not renewed, despite several attempts. I can’t find any reference to a 1986 ban STILL in place. The lack of a ban on assault weapons (modern sporting rifles, as you call them) has allowed hundreds of thousands of weapons to be sold. The lack of a ban has allowed gun owners to put these assault weapons to such “practical uses” as keeping the squirrels off their bird feeders. True sportsmen do NOT need an AK-47 to kill a deer.
While you’re at it, give us the list of “practical uses” of the car, beside providing transportation? Are you talking about NASCAR? The demolition derby? Trying to compare assault weapons to cars is ludicrous, and a tired NRA and gun lobby talking point.
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Ellemay, it is helpful that you outlined mistakes made by the police. It shows that even the people who are much more qualified than the average citizen and whose job it is to protect us, can easily make mistakes in these types of situations. It helps explain why arming every ‘good guy’ is nonsense. Teachers, preachers, and nurses don’t go into their field to carry a gun. And they shouldn’t be tasked with the responsibility of taking down an attacker in a shoot out. It is ironic that you believe that every ‘good guy’ will do exactly what they intend to do rather than the more likely outcome, that more innocent victims may be caught in the crossfire. There is a huge difference between on/off duty OFFICERS and regular citizens.
It is a fact that the Bushmaster was used in the Newtown tragedy. Conspiracy theories only devalue your argument. And Rahm Emanual did say, “You never want a serious crisis go to a waste and what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” He was mainly addressing other issues in America (education, finances) and how we have postponed action for too long. Lets not take things out of context to fuel your agenda and conspiracy theories much like the NRA does.
The whole conservative and NRA agenda reads like before stated phrases. “Guns don’t kill people. People do,” is the most overused, cowardly phrase of the gun advocate side. Believing that this letter is plagiarized? The gun control side has merit, common sense, and facts on their side; maybe you’re just confused? But please, educate us all on the weapons of 1791. Stating that single shot weapons were the most common isn’t untrue, is it? Putting the Second Amendment in context may be detrimental to the gun advocate but lets not ignore facts because they don’t help your argument.
We shouldn’t have to lock our kids in at school and put an armed guard at every entrance. It’s not only implausible but we deserve much better than this. If you use logic and rational thinking, it seems that instead of arming every single person and bolting up our schools, we could deal with this problem like common sense adults. It does good to remember that this is a topic of gun CONTROL not a BAN.
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The term ‘assault weapon’ has been given to many firearms that simply look like an actual assault weapon. A true assault weapon is any weapon that fires more than one bullet per trigger pull, which have all been banned since 1986. These firearms were simply given the name ‘assault weapons’ because they look like the actual thing, however they are not.
Now for your list of practical uses:
Protecting your family in emergencies
Personal safety and self defense
Preventing and deterring crimes
Detaining criminals for arrest
Overcoming tyranny
International trade
Emergency preparedness
Commerce and employment
Historical preservation and study
Obtaining food by hunting
Olympic competition
Collecting
Sporting pursuits
Target practice
Recreational shooting
Now eastender, if you choose to not protect your family or you, that is your choice. If you choose to not engage in recreational shooting, collecting, target practice or hunting with modern sporting rifles, that is also your choice. However, don’t try to take those options away from me because you don’t think I am a ‘true sportsman’.
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Donna, take away hunting, and you still have other uses for these firearms, as I have listed before. You say hunters have ‘a sick mind…I could see those who equate the two, would probably not have too much of a problem snuffing out other walking, breathing creatures…such as people!”
Please, lets hear some facts on how many hunters commit crimes with their firearms, such as ‘snuffing out other walking, breathing creatures’.
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“I did not say hunters specifically, although I can’t say that they are my favorite people because they do shoot at defenseless living creatures”… And YOU do not eat? It’s better knowing that “someone else” killed your animal so you could eat your steaks and burgers? What about vegetables? They ARE living forms. Do YOU have a problem ripping them out of their homes by their roots so YOU can eat? Don’t be a hypocrite. My family eats A LOT of wild game taken by ourselves. It is much healthier than the garbage you buy over the counter at the stores. And, as long as you like qouting Bible verses; “Genesis 9:2-3
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. “
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“I repeat what I said, a true sportsman does NOT need an assault weapon (capable of firing multiple rounds in rapid succession) to kill his prey. ” A TRUE sportsman wants the best and most accurate weapon to make a clean, swift kill so the animal does not suffer. A quick back up shot or two can ensure this. However, I DO (believe it or not) think there are some firearms out there that really don’t need to be publically owned. MY problem is, our legislators WILL most definitely try to outlaw as many guns as they possibly can. They always try to word things in a way to get the maximum effect, such as ” any weapon with a detachable magazine and at least one similarity to a military weapon.” See something wrong here? ALL semi-auto guns, handguns, shotguns, rifles have a similarity to a military weapon. They can NEVER go after a certain gun, they always feel the need over stretch. Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S. How’s that working out for them?
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Typical left wing lib response…can’t argue the truth so resort to name calling and deflect the subject.
JD did an awesome job of giving a detailed list of uses for firearms. JD & devilschild also gave a great lesson to you uninformed libs about what an assault gun is and what it isn’t.
Here’s a page from the eastender playbook. As long as your giving labels……”eastender” must mean where your heart truly lies, about 6000 miles East of here with all of the other socialists.
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Good to hear from you, annie. Sorry to inform you, but I am a proud card-carrying Minnesotan, but with perhaps a broader world view than some of you.
Do you need to be reminded that YOU started this discussion? You began by insulting the author of the letter to the editor, calling her in so many words “ignorant”, “naive”, “uninformed”, “out of touch”. So you win in the “name calling sweepstakes”.
It appears that YOU can’t argue the facts, so you resort to name-calling. She has a right to her opinion. The difference between HER opinion and YOURS is that she backs it up with facts and well-thought-out commentary. You chose to blast her unnecessarily. You presented yourself as someone who knows MORE than most about guns. Well, share it!
Devilschild taught us nothing about the topic at hand, despite your glowing review. Who cares what AR stands for? (By the way, the AR15 was designed for military and police use.. never intended for civilians.)
We’re still waiting for you to add something substantive to the discussion, since you opened the “can of worms” about assault weapons having so many “alternate uses” in daily life. Your silence on the topic implies that you’ve got n-o-t-h-i-n-g to back up your ludicrous, insulting statements.
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Eastender your comments are anger filled rants. You are an angry person. When confronted with an angry person I take the high road and move on. See you…wouldn’t want to be you.
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The AR in an AR15 doesn’t stand for assault rifle. The A in AR stands for the original company that manufactured it, ArmaLite. It’s a .223 rifle outfitted with a different stock to make it look bad-ass. You can do the same thing with many other models of rifles with aftermarket parts.
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This is a comment left on the web to explain why the founders thought it was important to have the 2nd Amendment for our own protection. The examples given are from the last 100 years.
Feinstein, Schumer, Obama, Holder, and their whole gang are tyrant wannabes. To them, anyone who does, or might, oppose their control over every aspect of our lives, is “a criminal” because they said so.
To quote a few of their heroes, with explanatory comments in ( ):
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” – Mao
(They revere Mao and the way he ruthlessly grabbed power in China. The fact that he murderd about 100 million Chinese to do it is, to them, a “feature,” not a “bug.”)
“If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves. … The only real power comes out of a long rifle. … Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach. … We don’t let them have ideas. Why would we let them have guns? … The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.” — Joseph Stalin
“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed the subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty.” — Adolf Hitler
(These psychopathic sociopaths in our government – and THEY ARE PRECISELY THAT, never make the mistake of doubting it – believe that they are anointed to be our rulers and that we are the equivalent of Hitler’s “subject races.”)
THOSE are the reasons why, and the sort of people who want to, disarm us.
These same people through DHS and other alphabet agencies have recently purchased over 1.5 BILLION rounds of ammo – enough to shoot every man, woman, and child in the country 3-4 times – ammo that’s illegal for military use under international law. Considering that the you and I and all of the other US taxpayers are paying for all of this ammo, it’s frighteningly reminiscent of the story of political prisoners’ families being forced to pay for the bullets used to execute them … isn’t it?
If we allow these leftist control freaks to ignore and ultimately gut the 2nd Amendment, history will inevitably repeat itself. These “gun control” proposals have NOTHING to do with preventing crime, but EVERYTHING to do with CONTROL.
Hitler disarmed the Jews and others, then murdered about 15 million.
Stalin disarmed the Russians, them murdered about 40 million.
Mao disarmed the Chinese peasants, then murdered nearly 100 million.
The Turks disarmed the Armenians, then murdered 1.5-2 million.
Pol Pot disarmed the Cambodians and murdered millions.
Rwanda disarmed its ethnic groups, then murdered millions.
The list goes on … over 170 million people murdered BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENTS in the 20th century – AFTER they allowed those governments disarmed them.
They ALL thought “It can’t happen here” – until they were disarmed and it started, then it was too late. Don’t make the same mistake. Don’t EVER let your government disarm you.
The Founders knew that government, if not constrained at every step, will continue to accumulate power and control until it becomes tyranny. That’s why they feared standing armies and insisted that the “right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
“Never forget, even for an instant, that the one and only reason anybody has for taking your gun away is to make you weaker than he is, so he can do something to you that you wouldn’t let him do if you were equipped to prevent it. This goes for burglars, muggers, and rapists, and even more so for policemen, bureaucrats, and politicians.” – Aaron Zelman
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“(By the way, the AR15 was designed for military and police use.. never intended for civilians.)” The AR WAS created by Eugene Stoner & Howard Johnson of Treyarc Gun designs,for the Military, offering a lighter version of the M-16 for the soldiers. HOWEVER, many problems in the field caused them to stop using them. The design was then sold to Colt, who redesigned some of the troubled parts and began offering them as a sporting rifle to the public in 1963. It was never intended for police use OR military use after the Colt Co. took it over.
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“We shouldn’t have to lock our kids in at school and put an armed guard at every entrance. It’s not only implausible but we deserve much better than this.”— If we deserve much better, why do all the Washington elites, Obama, David Gregory (who I’m sure you know admonished LaPierre for wanting guards in school) and a lot of the other legislators send their kids to Sidwell? Who has 11 ARMED guards at all times?
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=photo+of+sidwell+schools+armed+guards&qpvt=photo+of+sidwell+schools+armed+guards&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=1EC3A87A86AA8B174858D4143AEC77A8A5267E02&selectedIndex=0
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Ellamay, Obama and his children lives ( and such) are certainly not more important then another persons, however I would like to point out that being in the position of a president, (and the only black president at that) leaves them at a much greater risk and more of a target on them then the average person. There are many crazies that would love the opportunity to assinate a black president or his family….
And for LaPierre, his only mission as part of the NRA is to sell guns. The NRA could care less about the safety of US citizens. They are a lobbyist group…it does good to remember that.
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Lyle, although you have more ‘likes’ than ‘dislikes,’ I wouldn’t be too proud of your commentary. It was simply embarrassing and shows how much you lack in the understanding of world history. Grab a history textbook. It is mind-boggling that conservatives seem to find it okay to compare the leader of the Free World to some of the worst human rights offenders in our history. Apathy is much preferred over driven ignorance.
“To quote a few of their heroes” – Calling those people heroes of Obama because you don’t like him, this is not only ridiculous but you should be ashamed.
Dorothy Powell wrote a great article on how offensive and ignorant it is to compare Obama to Hitler. “Adolf Hitler was a sick individual who desired, ordered and is responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Obama wants to make health care affordable and accessible to millions of people, saving their lives. Hitler hated racial minorities. Obama is one. Hitler started a war that involved almost the whole world. Obama has reduced the number of combat troops that the United States has stationed overseas.”
She goes on to explain another great point: Conservatives are afraid because Obama really does represent change. Yes, change can be scary but that is what has made our country great. Change from a colony of Britain to a free nation. Rights of minorities (slavery) and women rights have all changed. Change is what has made our country great; we had to overcome those who were stuck in the traditional viewpoint. We need to continue to evolve in order for our country progress. We cannot be caught in a web of fear that the right wing ‘freaks’ spew out.
It is “intellectually lazy” for people to compare Hitler to any leader of the United States of America.
Obama is not a tyrannical wannabe or a control freak. But it is ironic that a personal rights complaint is coming from the right wing. The same right wing individuals who want to control women’s personal rights, the right to marry, and the right to life (healthcare/welfare). The GOP has literally become the party of hypocrisy.
But this comment is probably in vain as it is not recommended to argue with radicals (of either party). Radical conservatives such as yourself, Lyle, will never be convinced that there might be a flaw in your thinking because you never truly look at things with an open mind. You are too busy being caught up in fear and paranoia. But before you accuse me of the same, I do not believe that guns should be banned (which I might add, isn’t being proposed). But something needs to be done; we cannot be content with a few massacres a year as the price for this freedom.
“Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light” – Bruce Lee
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When you ignore history, it will repeat itself.
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Well, you should know then that Hitler relaxed gun laws (to citizens). He never took guns away from his own citizens. So yes, lets not let that happen again.
But if we must make outrageous (and completely offensive) comments… he did oppress minorities. That sounds more familiar right (GOP)?
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