Great Opinion Column in Seattle P-I

[Dain Bramage]

The P-I has really been offering a great forum for the gun debate lately. There have been a lot of articles from both sides of the issue.

The P-I may be rediscovering its journalistic moxy, or maybe the view is getting scary over the rim as it starts to circle the toilet bowl. The joint operating agreement (JOA) with The Seattle Times is folding, and it's sink or swim time for the P-I.

Or, as Langenator has pointed out, they may just be innoculating their fellow Democrat travelers from their own worst tendancies in the upcoming political dogfights. Puget Sound has the diversity of the Politburo, and Republican Eastern Washington is not keeping up with population. However, Washington state has a strange populist bent, and the last anti-gun legislation was shot down 3-1. Also, the Usurper-Governor is as popular as Ken Schram in a speedo.

Anyway, Dave Workman has written a great article. It oozes "common-sense", and not the snake-oil kind the Antis are trying to sell.

Violent crime is not caused by law-abiding gun owners

DAVE WORKMAN
GUEST COLUMNIST

With Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels essentially shilling for the small but vocal Washington CeaseFire, Evergreen State anti-gunners have opened a new gun control campaign that typically offers nothing but wants a lot.

Exploiting the Capitol Hill murders and other recent Seattle incidents, the gun control lobby has launched a massive assault on this state's gun owners, but with the same old goals that are irrelevant to current problems.

Despite the fact that the Capitol Hill gunman Kyle Huff did not use the .223-caliber utility rifle found in his truck after the killings, Nickels and CeaseFire want a statewide ban on so-called assault weapons. Despite the fact that none of the shootings was preventable, they want mandatory trigger locks. Huff legally purchased his firearms and brought them from another state, yet Nickels wants to close a mythical gun show loophole in Washington.

Gun prohibitionists bring nothing to the table in exchange for freedoms they want gun owners to surrender. Nickels never even came to the table and has never met with the firearms community. He simply announced what he and CeaseFire want the Legislature to take away from gun owners.

CeaseFire President Ralph Fascitelli recently promised to put in writing that law-abiding citizens have a right to own handguns and "non-military hunting rifles" provided gun owners essentially agree to his group's wish list. That's not an olive branch, it's a noxious weed.

Besides, where did he get the arrogant notion that CeaseFire grants rights?

Fascitelli attempted to marginalize the National Rifle Association as "a body mostly of white men who live outside urban centers." Unlike CeaseFire, the NRA's president is a woman, Tucson, Ariz., attorney Sandra Froman; very urban, very sophisticated. Today's NRA is a model of diversity with its own women's magazine, women's programs and members from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.

CeaseFire talks about gun safety; thousands of NRA certified instructors teach it. How many certified instructors does CeaseFire have? NRA has about 90,000 members statewide. CeaseFire claims 3,600 members.

Meanwhile, Nickels, fresh from an anti-gun mayors' summit in New York, appears to have taken CeaseFire's agenda, put his name on it and is using their rhetoric.

They complain about "easy access to guns" and "lax gun laws," yet guns were far more accessible 50 and 75 years ago, when the laws were far less strict. Where was the urban violence then? Where were the school shootings? People carried guns in bars. There were school rifle teams. There were no background checks. What changed?

Violent crime is not the fault of law-abiding gun owners, who should be able to own whatever firearm they want. If they're not harming people or committing crimes, who cares what kind of guns they have?

The gun control lobby cares. If they can make it acceptable to ban one kind of gun today and restrict gun ownership, tomorrow they can try to ban other guns and demand further erosions of gun owners' rights. When the firearms community justifiably fights back, they'll be demonized as "unreasonable gun nuts."

CeaseFire admits that gun control laws could not have prevented the Capitol Hill shootings. Why do they think such laws will prevent future crimes?

Why do they want you to think so?
Dave Workman is author of "Washington State Gun Rights and Responsibilities" and senior editor at Gun Week (www.gunweek.com).

 

[zerosignal]

Simple enough for a moron to understand, and straight to the point. Definitely one of the best pro-gun articles I've seen in a while.

 

[C. Rabbit]

Indeed, this is a great editorial. I think I'll send it along with my email to my state reps.

CR

 

[Master Shake]

I believe that a Tigard OR politician named Ginny Burdick was involved with Ceasefires "assault weapon" plan in Washington.Last year she was pushing the same B.S. in OR.Her plan included a long list of banned firearms and magazines.Some of wich would be grandfathered in of course.After the owners paid a fee to register every "evil" weapon with the local Sheriff,and continued to register and pay up every year.Getting caught with unregistered weapons or mags [anything detachable that holds more than 10 rounds]was at least 5 years in prison.It seems that violent criminals and worthless politicians are being imported to WA.At a public forum in Tigard last year she had the nerve to ask a young female trail guide why her AR needed more than a ten rnd mag.The little woman works in bear and cougar country.Ginny's tyrrany got nowere in
OR.

 

[John G]

If they're not harming people or committing crimes, who cares what kind of guns they have?

Amen.

 

[Autolycus]

I cant wait to move to Seattle. I will gladly jump in the trenches with you all when they try to pass this crap. I am from Cook County, IL which is the home of Chicago, and you really do not want to have to endure that. A good buddy of mine got back from Iraq 2 weeks ago and cannot legally own the
M4-gery he bought before shipping out. He has to keep it at a friends outside of the county. And the AR mags that go with it are illegal as well. The kicker is he is gonna be a Will County Sheriff, is a member of the Army, served in Combat, and has a clean background but still not allowed to enjoy his rights.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Naked Truth, words to remember:

Gun prohibitionists bring nothing to the table in exchange for freedoms they want gun owners to surrender.