Ceasefire Maryland is at it again

[Norton]

From the Baltimore Sun:



Years after massacre, guns still easy to get

Five years ago on Tuesday, two teen-agers murdered 13 and wounded 23 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. Among the guns they used was a modified TEC-9 assault pistol, designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible.

Since then, Congress has done nothing to restrict the availability of these weapons. It was all too easy for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to obtain their devastating weapons then, and it remains so today.

And the availability of assault weapons will be further enhanced on Sept. 14, when the 1994 federal assault weapons ban, which bans some assault weapons but by no means all, is due to expire.

And where is President Bush on assault weapons? He is eagerly promoting the renewal of the USA Patriot Act, which doesn't expire until 2005, yet hasn't lifted a finger or voice to urge renewal and strengthening of the assault weapons ban, which expires in less than five months.

Until our political leaders act to ban these weapons of war from the hands of children, it's only a matter of time before another Columbine happens. Don't we owe our children more than that?


Leah Barrett
Baltimore

 

[Norton]

Give me some input on the above article and I will put together the letter....I'm swamped right now and don't have time to think too hard, but we can't let Gail Gunn/Leah Barrett go unchallenged....

 

[Tom C.]

Thank God the MD Assembly is shut down for the year. They failed on their assault weapon ban on a close vote.

 

[Norton]

My letter to the Baltimore Sun:




After failing for the second year in a row to have yet more restrictive gun laws forced upon the law-abiding citizens of Maryland, Ceasefire Maryland has set its sites on attacking President George W. Bush on the matter of the September sunset of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.

Preying upon the general public’s lack of firearms knowledge, Ceasefire continues to pull fear mongering catch phrases from their playbook of anti-firearm talking points.

The acts of two deranged students at Columbine High School were indeed a tragedy, but what Ceasefire Maryland fails to mention is that these firearms were already possessed illegally by Klebold and Harris. Making it more illegal to own those firearms would not have prevented their actions in any way. We should be asking why the parents of those students allowed their children to openly have illegal possession of firearms and bomb making materials.

Ceasefire Maryland inappropriately tried to make Senator Gianetti the scapegoat for the failure of the Maryland Assault Weapons Ban this legislative session. They now blame President Bush. When will they start blaming the criminals rather than those who obey the law and possess their firearms legally?

 

[Highland Ranger]

Pretty good, maybe a bit long if it's for a newspaper.

The overriding thought an anti or fence sitter would have reading your response would be: OK the Columbine kids had illegal arms anyway, so the law wouldn't have stopped them but why does that mean you need a machine gun?

Not sure you have enough room, but how about one final closing sentence to address this like "if we make guns illegal only criminals will have them" kind of thing . . . and hook back into the fact that if we raised kids right they wouldn't be psychos; cars kill more people why don't we ban them etc.

Or borrowing from John Lott (look up the right numbers) 5 gallon buckets kill more children than firearms etc.

 

[Partisan Ranger]

Any who live in MD should take the time to write your governor and thank him for standing up against anti-gun stupidity. MD's 'assault weapons ban' died largely because of the governor's opposition to feel-good worthless gun laws.

 

[Spot77]

Partisan Ranger: You're absolutely right. Many of us have burned candles at both ends writing letters, attending hearings, and spreading the word about this silliness bestowed upon us by paid lobbyists.

Funny how Mrs. Barrett now lives in the poor city of Baltimore. Land records STILL indicate she lives in her $870,000 house in Montgomery County. Lies, lies, and more lies.......that's all this woman ever says.

Norton made a nice public attack on her that was recently published in a local paper.

 

[Standing Wolf]

...Ceasefire Maryland has set its sites on...

Sights.

 

[one45auto]

Frankly I wouldn't expect anything less from the Baltimore Sun, because it's liberal bias at its worst. Twice I've been accosted at the supermarket by someone trying to sollicit subscriptions, but as I told them "the only thing that paper is good for is wiping your @ss, and I wouldn't even use it for that."