I read this letter to the editor in the Bangor Daily News today...
I wrote a response this morning, and actually received an email back from the editor asking me to edit to 300 words. I was surprised, as the paper has become pretty liberal lately (I know... not all liberals are anti...)
I have my 300 word response done, and sent in. I am hoping that it will see publication. If it does within the next couple of days, I will post it. I don't want to until then, as I don't want them to not publish it due to the fact that it appeared on an internet forum.
Two of the arguments I didn't even get to in the letter that are absurd. The quiet and tranquility argument (what is everyone going to have fun shooting guns in the air?) and the "you can carry them as long as you don't have them loaded and that should be fine" argument. They were both so insane I didn't think that they needed a response.
Loaded guns in Acadia
As a resident abutter to Acadia National Park, I call upon Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to justify his proposed amendment to the Acadia National Park Improvement Act which would allow people to carry loaded firearms in our park. Current regulations do not ban firearms in the park; they merely require such weapons to be unloaded and not readily accessible. Is the senator afraid someone may be attacked by a rabid raccoon or a peevish porcupine? If so, our well-trained rangers are fully equipped with loaded sidearms to deal with such emergencies.
Many people come to our national parks to escape the noise, peril and bloodshed of our city streets. Allowing visitors to carry loaded guns would largely defeat the public’s desire for peace and tranquility. It would also vastly complicate the already difficult task of controlling game poachers.
The Second Amendment says nothing about ammunition, therefore banning loaded firearms in certain sensitive locations cannot reasonably be said to contravene that amendment. It seems to me the senator is saying that any citizen should be allowed to carry a loaded gun anywhere she or he pleases. Does he believe that banning such weapons from commercial air flights and our public schools violates the Constitution?
I wrote a response this morning, and actually received an email back from the editor asking me to edit to 300 words. I was surprised, as the paper has become pretty liberal lately (I know... not all liberals are anti...)
I have my 300 word response done, and sent in. I am hoping that it will see publication. If it does within the next couple of days, I will post it. I don't want to until then, as I don't want them to not publish it due to the fact that it appeared on an internet forum.
Two of the arguments I didn't even get to in the letter that are absurd. The quiet and tranquility argument (what is everyone going to have fun shooting guns in the air?) and the "you can carry them as long as you don't have them loaded and that should be fine" argument. They were both so insane I didn't think that they needed a response.