Remember that bearing arms helps keep us free Your views
Date: Jul 28, 2006 4:44 PM
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20060728/opinion/113510.shtml
Remember that bearing arms helps keep us free

Your views

LETTER

An Opinion article by Mike Freeman on Monday was quite interesting. On the one hand, he makes a very convincing argument in favor of small arms possession by the “people” of this country. On the other, he bashes the motivations of those persons who direct the agenda of the National Rifle Association.

As a member of the NRA for an extended period and as one who has read all he could find on the subject, I’m thoroughly convinced the NRA and the officers thereof are completely honest in their crusade to protect the Second Amendment. Contrary to the news available from the mass media, i.e., TV, newspapers, magazines, etc., the NRA will give you both the good and the bad sides of the issue. They don’t deny that bad guys get their hands on guns and that people are killed every day by firearms, but they also point out the documented benefits of having right-to-carry side arms laws in our several states. Having these laws almost always translates into lower crime rates committed with a gun.

It is also provable that the reverse in true. The British isles, Australia and Canada are excellent examples. These countries all proved the truth contained in the bumper sticker of a few years back: “When guns are outlawed, only the outlaws will have guns.” That statement has been proven over and over and why our brilliant and enlightened elected officials from some liberal states can’t see it is the question Mike should be asking.

To answer some of Mike’s questions: The founders of this country only had to go back a few years to see firsthand how the freedom to “keep and bear arms” caused this great nation to come into existence by way of the Revolutionary War. Without that freedom, we might still be part of Canada. The Founders looked forward to a time, not unlike today, when government would become oppressive and needed to be overhauled, replaced or restricted, and you “ain’t gonna get it done throwin’ rocks!”

Court rulings on the meaning of the Second Amendment are no different than court rulings on other subject as long as those courts are composed of liberals who believe the constitution is a “living document” and will read differently at different stages of our history. To quote a popular talk show host, columnist and professor: “How would you like to play poker with me but the rules are ‘living’ and I make them up as the game goes along?”

Harry F. Carlson

Gainesville

Originally published Friday, July 28, 2006