The recent tragedy in Florida where 17 people died in the horrific school shooting, is not due to the NRA, or our Second Amendment, as so many emotionally try to push that narrative. There were two glaring facts that have come to light: First, the shooter had a long-standing history of drastic instability, including 39 visits by authorities to his home in recent years, but was not put on any “red-flag” lists, so he was able to purchase firearms. That is a fault of government, not NRA. Secondly, it has been reported there were up to four police officers outside the school who did not confront the shooter. They did not do their job. Once again, their fault, not the NRA.
Our president is correct in calling schools “soft targets.” Schools need to become “hard targets.” We currently have numerous gun laws on the books. They just need to be enforced properly. Also, many common-sense ideas have since come forth, including tougher backround checks, and having an armed guard at the school.
We must not adopt the discriminatory policy of denying 18-20-year-olds the ability to own a gun as has been advocated by some extremists. Murderers come in all ages, and to deny these young adults the ability to defend themselves or the enjoyment of hunting is wrong. We treat them as adults otherwise, and expect them to serve in our military, but to deny this constitutional right doesn’t make sense.
Over the last several years, ironically, the vast majority of shootings have been in “gun-free zones.” What does that tell us? Criminals know how to get guns, even if you have stringent gun control. Gun-free zones leave the rest of us defenseless. Consider Chicago.
Regarding the recent letter from a frequent writer to this paper, outlining his extremist changes to the Second Amendment. Thankfully his apparent dream of a socialized utopia in America won’t happen.
His apparent goal is to disarm as many Americans as possible. Of course this would make our enemies happy, including ISIS.
Last week I sent in my first donation to the NRA, and now will continue to do so. I encourage others to do likewise, or to the several other organizations protecting our basic freedoms.
Facts, not emotion. Let’s ask our legislators to work with the facts, not emotion.
Jon Lehtinen
Houghton
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