One letter suggested arming every male citizen over 21 with an assault weapon, and that would save us untold dollars since we could disband our armed forces. It took me three readings to conclude that surely the writer was attempting sarcasm, since no one could be so clueless as to think that male citizens with Bushmasters and Uzis could fend off ICBM’s, combat jets, and aircraft carriers.
The second letter proclaimed that we needed guns so that we could protect ourselves from “tyrannical” government, as indicated by the incident in Waco, Texas “…where 84 American citizens were burned alive by the FBI and military because the federal government didn’t like their religion.” What sheer nonsense! The Waco conflict was not over religion, but because the Branch Davidian cult resisted a properly issued federal search warrant. Four brave federal agents were gunned down by the cultists.
The National Guard (today’s militia) provided no personnel for the operation, but equipment only (Combat Engineer Vehicles), as allowed by law. Investigation revealed that the fires set in the Waco compound were set by the cult members themselves. Finally, not all the cultists were American citizens; many came from foreign countries (the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Canada).
Besides Waco, the writer cited other isolated incidents of “government tyranny,” where again he twisted or avoided pertinent facts, apparently believing that the truth should never interfere with a good story.
The issue over gun violence should be taken and debated seriously, using facts not fiction. Those who call for guns to displace our military or to protect themselves against “tyrannical government” are not doing any favors for supporters of the Second Amendment.
Where there is criminal activity, we expect the government to step in, restore order, and bring criminals to justice. Further, calling the government tyrannical in these cases does a grave disservice to our law enforcement officers, who put their lives on the line every day to protect us.
The whole gun thing annoys me. The NRA isn't helping much. With their idiotic non-solutions and resistance to even talk about gun control. Then you have the administration trying to push tired old legislation that didn't work the first time around. In fact, go try to buy some ammo, or go to a gun show... I think you could make the argument that Feinstein is personally responsible for a run on guns like I've never seen before.
...and wth happened to the mental health talk? How about we put a little more focus to that failed system.