Guns are like cars, when used safely and properly
The Seattle Times reported three state lawmakers wish to ban the sale of so-called military-style semi-automatic weapons in response to recent lives lost in Seattle and Lakewood [“Assault weapons ban likely to fail,” News, Jan. 25].
First of all, these state lawmakers are Democratic, secular progressives that quite simply do not like guns and will selfishly use horrible tragedies to help fulfill their anti-gun agenda. This has nothing to do with right or wrong.
If these Democrats — who have been in power in Olympia forever — were serious about repairing recurring problems involving repeat offenders, they should attack “feel-good” laws that return repeat offenders to our streets only to harm and murder in a more violent manner.
Blaming guns for violence is like blaming cars for drunk drivers. Both can be dangerous weapons in the wrong hands; Both can also become lifesavers in the right hands when being used safely and properly.
The next time re-offenders are released into society and do re-offend violently, remember these names: Rep. Ross Hunter and Sens. Adam Kline and Jeanne Kohl. Every effort to reform laws that allow violent offenders back to society should be taken immediately without delay.
— Vern LaPrath, Bremerton
Mantra ‘guns don’t kill people’ is false
We are constantly reminded that the Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right “to keep and bear arms.” I suppose that was the message of the 10 civilian men I saw wearing side arms in Mill Creek last week. Armed strangers make me shy, otherwise, I might have reminded them of the second and third words in the Amendment: “well regulated.”
Everyday we hear horrific reports of gun violence, yet it is ludicrously easy to carry a gun. Everyday we hear the absurd mantra “Guns don’t kill people, people do.” Actually, it is largely men who kill people; Less than half the population, they are responsible for 91.3 percent of gun homicides.
So let me pass along a suggestion from Randy Cohen, The New York Times ethicist, to the more responsible half of our population. If we can’t or won’t curb gun violence by restricting the availability of guns, let’s expand and reorient it. Require all women to get a gun — preferably pink — and carry it in plain sight everywhere they go. “Feminizing gun ownership, could ultimately reduce its appeal to men, making gun-toting as unmasculine as carrying a purse,” Cohen says.
That idea is saner than anything we are doing now to confront a very serious problem.
— Sue Griswold, Mill Creek
Bill is too broad
The assault-weapons bill is stated to ban the sale of “assault weapons” but it is far more reaching.
The public would be amazed at how many firearms would be classified as “assault weapons” that are common recreational firearms, hunting rifles and personal-protection firearms. The language of this bill is so broad, most firearm owners I know will have a firearm newly defined as an “assault weapon!”
There are “exceptions” listed in Senate Bill 6396 for law enforcement. Clearly this was done with the thought that police should not be “outgunned” by criminals. This raises the question then, when the private citizen has to face the same criminal as the police, why should the law shackle the law-abiding by outlawing suitable self-defense firearms?
There is a provision to keep those firearms, redefined by SB 6396 as assault weapons, but only if the owner is willing to open up their home to law-enforcement inspection. A U.S. citizen should not have to sacrifice their Fourth Amendment rights just to keep their Second Amendment rights.
— Jeff Doane, Port Angeles