NOTE: This letter was originally published in the Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal on March 8, 2001
To the Editor:
It is hard to believe, and even frightening that some people have the misguided notion that the Second Amendment only applies to the police and the military. They also believe that no private citizen should have the right to own a gun, including sportsmen and hunters. This type of reckless and dangerous thinking will ultimately destroy our society and bring about a police state.
While drafting the Virginia Constitution in 1776, Thomas Jefferson said: "No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." Jefferson went on to say that the "strongest reason for the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against the tyranny in government."
Two hundred and twenty-five years later, those words remain true, and are at the foundation for the constitutional protections we enjoy today. Yet there are those who have been chiseling away at our Constitution for years, and would strip law-abiding citizens of their right to own a gun, leaving them to law enforcement and military personnel, and also the criminals!
The only person who will be harmed by a gun ban in the United States is the law-abiding citizen. The criminal will not be deterred in the slightest. The individual determined to commit a crime with a gun will no doubt obtain it illegally, and has little or no regard for the law or the safety of the community.
It is my hope that, as a society, we do not fall prey to the misguided liberal thinking that it is the guns that do the killing, and that they do not need a person behind them pulling the trigger, because it is this type of attitude which fosters anarchy.
Let us, as Americans, be ever mindful and vigilant to other subtle assaults to our Constitutional rights and freedoms, because when we allow one right to be taken away, there may come a day when there are no rights left.
While drafting the Virginia Constitution in 1776, Thomas Jefferson said: "No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." Jefferson went on to say that the "strongest reason for the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against the tyranny in government."
Two hundred and twenty-five years later, those words remain true, and are at the foundation for the constitutional protections we enjoy today. Yet there are those who have been chiseling away at our Constitution for years, and would strip law-abiding citizens of their right to own a gun, leaving them to law enforcement and military personnel, and also the criminals!
The only person who will be harmed by a gun ban in the United States is the law-abiding citizen. The criminal will not be deterred in the slightest. The individual determined to commit a crime with a gun will no doubt obtain it illegally, and has little or no regard for the law or the safety of the community.
It is my hope that, as a society, we do not fall prey to the misguided liberal thinking that it is the guns that do the killing, and that they do not need a person behind them pulling the trigger, because it is this type of attitude which fosters anarchy.
Let us, as Americans, be ever mindful and vigilant to other subtle assaults to our Constitutional rights and freedoms, because when we allow one right to be taken away, there may come a day when there are no rights left.
5 comments:
I really like your blog - as a fellow conservative I think it's refreshing to hear from someone who is not off-the-wall and insulting. You make your points well and with dignity. Great writing!
Charlotte: Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. They are greatly appreciated.
I know many, many people who do not own guns. I do not own a gun. I can't imagine ever having the desire to feel what it is to fire a gun. I can't stand the thought of a deer running free only to be struck down by a rifle.
The one time I can imagine it however, is the day when someone tells me that I cannot have the right to do so.
ahhhh dripping sarcasm from Realist - imagine
I'm surprised you haven't been shot yet
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