For safety, get rid of guns

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TechAlG

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http://www.altoonamirror.com/Letters/articles.asp?articleID=11358

When will enough be enough? After seeing what our students have gone through at Virginia Tech, isn’t it time for a radical change with guns?

If no one had a gun, we would be equal in our defense with the exception of the sickly and elderly.

It is the cowards who are using guns to empower themselves because they know a gun is a weapon that will take your life in a split second. It is a coward who holds a gun to the cashier’s face; it is a coward who commits drive-by shootings; and it is definitely a coward who walks into a classroom and takes innocent lives because he feels the world owes him.

So if it is the cowards who are using guns to take precious lives, it is time to take back the power from the cowards.

There is no need for guns on our streets or in our homes. You don’t hear too often that a homeowner shoots and kills a burglar. It is usually the criminal who possesses the gun.

And there is the risk of children accidentally being shot in the home from being curious about a gun. No matter how well you think you hide the key to the gun cabinet, it’s not worth the risk.

Is it really that important to own a gun? If there were no more guns, I think we all would feel a lot safer because the criminals would not have the power of a gun over our heads. They would have to rely on their own defense, and they are too cowardly to do so.

A solution for hunters and those who shoot for sport would be to have a place where you would pick your gun up and then bring it back when you are done for the day. It would be regulated and done in the area where the gun is used. You would not be permitted to drive the gun to another point.

Where would the money come from for something like this? To save lives, there would be a way. God knows money is spent on a lot worse things.

This sounds as though we would be giving up our rights, but what we really would be doing is being responsible adults and taking back the power along with protecting our families and children.

I would love to see Altoona be the safe haven it once was. I know this will bring a lot of response from those who own guns and feel they have the right to own them. But as everything else goes in this world today, the bad ruin it for the good.

So if you feel the need to respond or bash this letter, don’t direct it to me; direct it to the parents and families of the students and adults who have just lost their loved ones because someone decided to destroy their lives with a gun. My heart goes out to each and everyone of them.

Karen Reilly

Altoona
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And my response (which I doubt will be published):

Karen Reilly asks “when will enough be enough?” I tend to ask the same question. She goes on to state “if no one had a gun, we would be equal in our defense with the exception of the sickly and elderly.” While technically correct; we would all be equally defenseless; this statement is flawed. A criminal, who is willing to break laws against murder, assault, robbery, etc. will have no problem breaking one more gun law. We would all be defenseless against those willing to break the laws, who would have no problem accessing guns.

Ms. Reilly goes on to state: “Is it really that important to own a gun? If there were no more guns, I think we would all feel a lot safer because the criminals would not have the power of a gun over our heads. They would have to rely on their own defense, and they are too cowardly to do so.”

I would like to know how Ms. Reilly proposes disarming all the criminals. Are they going to wake up one day and say “Oh, it’s illegal for me to have a gun, so I’ll just go turn it in?”

Ms. Reilly’s statement sounds eerily like one made by Larry Hincker, Virginia Tech spokesman, on January 31, 2006. This statement was made in reference to the Virginia General Assembly voting down a bill which would have allowed Concealed Carry Permit holders to carry a concealed weapon on campus. He said: “I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.”

Truth of the matter is, gun-free zones don’t work, even on a limited basis. This was proven by the tragedy at Virginia Tech. We now have two confirmed reports of students in Norris Hall, who legally were permitted by the State of Virginia to be carrying a concealed weapon; but were threatened with expulsion had they chosen to carry a weapon on school grounds. How would that day have been different if those law-abiding students hadn’t been disarmed by their school?

Ms. Reilly makes another point: “You don’t hear too often that a homeowner shoots and kills a burglar. It is usually the criminal who possesses the gun.” This statement is also technically true, but it is only true because we don’t hear too often about these situations. I blame the media for that. Just in the last two weeks, I have heard of several of these cases.

The first happened in Cleveland, OH, on April 21. A resident was sitting on his own front porch when two juveniles approached, and pulled a gun on him. He drew his weapon, and fired, hitting and killing one of the assailants. The other ran away.

The second happened in Huntsville, AL, on April 30. A man and his roommate were awakened about 3:15 AM when someone was kicking in their front door. One man entered the apartment wearing a mask and carrying a gun. The resident was able to shoot and kill the robber.

Most times, a resident doesn’t even need to fire; just the fact that the resident has a gun and appears willing to use it will make a robber flee to find an easier target.

The common sense solution seems to be having more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens who are trained in their use and safety. I would rather BE safe, than just FEEL safe.
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ya. as a small guy i take serious exception to this idea
If no one had a gun, we would be equal in our defense with the exception of the sickly and elderly
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anyone who believes that looses all credibility
 
I just threw up a little in my mouth after reading that crap.

I just love the way she conveniently writes off the sick and elderly at the beginning, and doesn't explain what to do about them. Obviously, they aren't worthy of the right of protecting themselves.

I also love the way she says if you have any comments about her letter, don't blame her. She wrote it, but it was written for other people, so what she wrote was their fault.

Typical socio-liberal BS.

SC
 
If no one had a gun, we would be equal in our defense with the exception of the sickly and elderly
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s_wheelchair.jpg


So, throwing the disabled and weak under the bus would make her feel safer? At least she's honest about her requirement for a sacrificial offering.
 
So if you feel the need to respond or bash this letter, don’t direct it to me; direct it to the parents and families of the students and adults who have just lost their loved ones because someone decided to destroy their lives with a gun. My heart goes out to each and everyone of them.
- Karen Reilly
Click to expand...

My time and energies are better spent passing forward as was passed to me.
instead of replying to Karen Reilly.

Arming others with Education & Knowledge
It may be something as simple as kids being read The Old Man And The Boy by Robert Ruark with life lessons of honesty, integrity, ethics and the realities of life intertwined with the story of a boy and his grandpa.

Utopia by Sir Thomas Moore , Animal Farm, and 1984 by Sir Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell.

Civil Disobedience by Thoreau is a wonderful work.
The Pillars of the Earth by Follett is another favorite of mine.

The Reality is, Evil has always been part of this World, often times using others names such as Tyranny.

One cannot change people, places and things. The only thing a person can do is change themselves.

Evil is not going to be changed. It never will be.
One can accept this, and change themselves to be better armed to deal with Evil, Tyranny , Oppression...

Guns?
They are only one tool in the tool box.
No tool is ever better than user of said tool.

Applicable to firearms, education, knowledge, and living life on life's terms.

Learn to use tools effectively to protect from Evil - I would rather use my time and energies this way , Karen Reilly, thank you very much.


Steve
 
:fire: Low road comments deleted:fire:

Probabaly not salvagable.

Ill just keep educating those that are capable of rational thought, and hope those like this ........ find a way to move thier bodys into that other dimention thier minds seem to live in.

Morcoth
 
I did spend some time to reply, although I generally sorta just ignore most folks like this. My reply:

Karen Reilly, of Altoona, writes "...if it is the cowards who are using guns to take precious lives, it is time to take back the power from the cowards."

Ms. Reilly willfully ignores the fact that criminals have no problem disobeying the law. No law is going to compel criminals to set aside their dastardly ways and no restriction on the law-abiding will prevent a criminal from acquiring a gun via illegal means. It is essentially impossible to disarm the criminal element. Instead, those of us who are NOT criminals will be rendered utterly helpless against those who have plenty of experience and a certain willingness to hurt and kill to get their way.

Furthermore, even if by some Potteresque magic all the guns in the world disappeared, from what, exactly, would we be safe? Instead of being killed with a gun, we get to enjoy being strangled or stabbed or bludgeoned. Taking a weapon from a killer doesn't make him a saint--it makes him a killer who'll use a different weapon. Perhaps, though, as long as criminals can only kill one or two people at a time, we could trumpet it as a positive achievement.

Let's be serious here. The absence of guns does not equate to the absence of violence. Violence is something PEOPLE do; banning guns to cure violence is like banning matches to stop house fires.
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Maybe a little cliche at the end there, but whatever. I think my favorite part is the mawkish appeal to the memories of the dead in order to deflect accountability for composing a completely illogical and fantasy-based letter.
 
Yep, I suppose if they were still alive, we could ask a couple million Rawandans who were chopped up by machete how they feet about turning in their guns for the "peace process" that predated the genocide?
 
If there were no more guns, I think we all would feel a lot safer because the criminals would not have the power of a gun over our heads.
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Utopia! Lets all sing and chant harmonious songs.:neener:

One big problem is that utopia/perfection cannot be obtained until everybody either has the same opinion on everything or nobody has any free will or choices to make. I'd rather have the choices to make and face danger than live a life where my choices are made for me. When the right to choose is taken away, so are all the feelings and experiences that make growth possible. Even slaves throughout history chanced certain death for freedom.

Utopia isn't going to happen anytime soon so let me choose to have my guns and take the chance that my children may kill themselves or a felon kill me and my own. I will not sheepishly follow. I have a brain.:cuss:
 
The author is correct about how you don't hear too often about a homeowner killing an invader - because no one wants to hear about it. We want to hear about mass murders and drivebys. We don't want to see good guys win because then we'll get cocky.
 
For safety, get rid of guns... and knives, cigarettes, trans-fats, sharp scissors, alcohol (that didn't work so well), drugs (not going so well either), automobiles, airplanes, tall buildings, swimming pools... where will it end?
 
The author of this piece does seem like she is capable of rational thought. The problem is that she just didn't think. How do you suppose we get rid of all guns from criminals and law-abiders alike? Kick down every door in the world? Not likely. Even then, what about the homeless, or the people who store their guns elsewhere? What about zip guns/home made guns?

You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. If we could, then we could talk about Karen's letter, but we can't, so every argument she makes is null. She is proposing an impossibility.

To be honest, even if there was a button we could press to make every gun ever made evaporate into a check for how much it was worth to the owner (that way no one would get ticked that they lost their collection, especially if they had a piece that was priceless to them :) ) I wouldn't want to do it. I like my guns. They're fun! :D

And as a response to an earlier post; They actually have effectively made trans-fats illegal to serve in New York City restaurants. The discussion on the absurdity of that will have to happen in another forum though...
 
Even if no one has guns and any kind of weapon, people with more brawn and/or unarmed combat skills will be more equal than others. So are we going to ban body-building and martial arts next?
 
Karen needs to go to "Civilian Gun Self-Defence Blog" if she wishes to read about law abiding citizens defending themselves against criminals. The files there go all the way back to 11/01/2003. Then maybe she'll see how biased the news media really is when it comes to showing the citizens of this great country defending themselves with guns.
 
When I first started replying to this letter, I thought about going down the road of "For Safety, Ban Automobiles"
 
It might be better to point out the results in England. The comment that "we would all be equal defensively" is blatantly false.

In addition to rising gun crime since the ban, England has experienced a rapid increase in daytime home burglaries/breakins since the handgun ban. Two or three thugs simply kick the door in or break-in through the window, clobber the homeowner with a club or other weapon, rob the home, and take off with the loot.

With overpowering physical force, and no "equalizer available", the big bully will win everytime. The history of mankind demonstrates that the criminal element is only deterred by superior force - an enforceable consequence must be available - jail, injury, or death - and without that fear (the risk of being shot by an armed victim, for example) you get post-Katrina New Orleans.
 
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