Fw: Your article in Today's DesNews
I just sent the following to the DesNes reporter as well as the editor.
==================
Charles Hardy
<utbagpiper@j...>
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Dear Mr. Smeath,
I write to express concern over the fact that your article today, "Shootings
renew calls for stronger Utah gun laws," does not include a single direct quote
from a single member of any of Utah's pro-self-defense organizations while
giving Ms. Kennedy from the anti-Gun and misnamed "Gun Violence Prevention
Center of Utah" almost an entire article to push her agenda. (How many gun
safety classes for children have Ms. Kennedy or her "Gun Violence Prevention
Center" actually hosted? How many laws mandating that such instruction be
available in the public schools have they proposed or supported. ALL they do is
support limits on law-abiding gun owners' access to their self defense weapons.)
While every accidental death is a tragedy, a little perspective would be nice.
How many of those "children" under 18 who were shot by other "children" were
actually members of violent, criminal gangs killed by other members of violent,
criminal gangs? Such shootings are hardly "accidental" and do not involved
"children" as most of us think of them. How many others involved young people
14 or older who are legally permitted to hunt or use a gun for target shooting?
Again, hardly "children" in the sense of being too young to understand the
dangers of what they are doing--at least if they had been exposed to some basic
gun safety education such as through the NRA's award winning "Eddie Eagle"
program that has been very much opposed by most school districts in our State.
Those shootings that really are accidents involving children and guns claim far
fewer lives (and cause far fewer other serious injuries) than a whole host of
other events including drownings, poisonings, trampolines, etc.
I note that in the latest incident, the gun HAD been stored in a safe. But the
children had managed to open the safe while they were left unattended as their
mother slept. Why, in the name of everything logical, does this case suggest
any need for more laws aimed at gun storage. If it suggest a need for any laws,
it would be more laws aimed at how long mothers leave babies and toddlers
unattended--something none of us would support.
May I suggest that for future stories you make an effort to present a much more
balanced picture by at least speaking with and including some quotations from
some members of the pro-self-defense community?
As the public policy director for Gun Owners of Utah (GOUtah!) I can be reached
at this email or [rdacted for this email]. <http://www.goutah.org/>
The NRA certainly has some kind of contact/spokesman available.
Locally, we also have groups such as Women Against Gun Control
<http://www.wagc.com/>, the Utah Shooting Sports Council
<http://www.utahshootingsports.com/>, and the Pink Pistols
<http://www.pinkpistols.com/> which is a pro-gun group specifically for gays.
Certainly, with just a bit of effort, one of us could have been contacted before
writing this story.
==================
Charles Hardy
<utbagpiper@j...>
I just sent the following to the DesNes reporter as well as the editor.
==================
Charles Hardy
<utbagpiper@j...>
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Dear Mr. Smeath,
I write to express concern over the fact that your article today, "Shootings
renew calls for stronger Utah gun laws," does not include a single direct quote
from a single member of any of Utah's pro-self-defense organizations while
giving Ms. Kennedy from the anti-Gun and misnamed "Gun Violence Prevention
Center of Utah" almost an entire article to push her agenda. (How many gun
safety classes for children have Ms. Kennedy or her "Gun Violence Prevention
Center" actually hosted? How many laws mandating that such instruction be
available in the public schools have they proposed or supported. ALL they do is
support limits on law-abiding gun owners' access to their self defense weapons.)
While every accidental death is a tragedy, a little perspective would be nice.
How many of those "children" under 18 who were shot by other "children" were
actually members of violent, criminal gangs killed by other members of violent,
criminal gangs? Such shootings are hardly "accidental" and do not involved
"children" as most of us think of them. How many others involved young people
14 or older who are legally permitted to hunt or use a gun for target shooting?
Again, hardly "children" in the sense of being too young to understand the
dangers of what they are doing--at least if they had been exposed to some basic
gun safety education such as through the NRA's award winning "Eddie Eagle"
program that has been very much opposed by most school districts in our State.
Those shootings that really are accidents involving children and guns claim far
fewer lives (and cause far fewer other serious injuries) than a whole host of
other events including drownings, poisonings, trampolines, etc.
I note that in the latest incident, the gun HAD been stored in a safe. But the
children had managed to open the safe while they were left unattended as their
mother slept. Why, in the name of everything logical, does this case suggest
any need for more laws aimed at gun storage. If it suggest a need for any laws,
it would be more laws aimed at how long mothers leave babies and toddlers
unattended--something none of us would support.
May I suggest that for future stories you make an effort to present a much more
balanced picture by at least speaking with and including some quotations from
some members of the pro-self-defense community?
As the public policy director for Gun Owners of Utah (GOUtah!) I can be reached
at this email or [rdacted for this email]. <http://www.goutah.org/>
The NRA certainly has some kind of contact/spokesman available.
Locally, we also have groups such as Women Against Gun Control
<http://www.wagc.com/>, the Utah Shooting Sports Council
<http://www.utahshootingsports.com/>, and the Pink Pistols
<http://www.pinkpistols.com/> which is a pro-gun group specifically for gays.
Certainly, with just a bit of effort, one of us could have been contacted before
writing this story.
==================
Charles Hardy
<utbagpiper@j...>
