I would like to point out some very inaccurate statements made by Steve Wilson in his letter to
the editor last week concerning my comments on handguns. His quote from the National Safety Council was actually propaganda from the National Rifle Association. The following is actually from the National Safety Council: “Keeping a handgun in the home for self-defense places a gun owner and his/her family in great jeopardy.” Residents of homes where a gun is present are five times more likely to experience a suicide and three times more likely to experience a homicide than residents of homes without guns. Additionally, a gun kept in the home is 43 times more likely to kill a member of the household, or friend, than an intruder and more children younger than 10 are killed by guns than by poison or electrocution.” Also Mr. Wilson’s comments concerning Washington D.C. crime rates from 1976 to 1991 don’t simply reflect a correlation based solely on the handgun ban. The major contributing factor causing the increase was drugs and unemployment. You notice that the rate went down when Clinton came into office and back up when “w” took over. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Mr. Wilson goes on to state that America is the 24th most violent country in the world but based on all factors such as Wars, violent crimes, violent media/TV/Movies/Video games, sports, the NRA and military weapons of mass destruction say otherwise. America’s huge military industrial complex builds and sells millions of tons of weapons to other countries around the world. We are far and away the most violent and violence supporting country in the world, hands down.
Typical of most right-wing NRA hand-gun addicts, they continuously distort the facts and misrepresent the truth. Mr. Wilson ended his tirade by supposedly quoting Thomas Jefferson. I’m sorry but Thomas Jefferson never wrote that. Cesare Beccaria wrote the quote from his Essay on Crime and Punishment. One must be very discerning and skeptical when reading comments from NRA advocates as recent letters demonstrate. My letter to the editor two weeks ago never said I was against the possession of shotguns, rifles or handguns. My issue was concerning the danger of handguns and community handgun bans. The U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the “right” to own any type of weapon to all citizens. It states the “militia’s” right to bear arms and the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently agreed with that view until the present Bush Court ignored precedent and erred.
Finally, the gun lust that many bitter NRA handgun extremists possess is very disturbing to me. It’s as though their paranoia has overtaken their logic and common sense. They accuse anyone that doesn’t acquiesce to their views to be un-American and unpatriotic. I find that very queer. My security is in Lord. Not a weapon. Until our country faces the root causes of crime we will continue to succumb to the mentality of extremists and those politicians who cling to violence and war as the answer to all our problems. God help us!