To the editor:
The argument presented in state Sen. [Thom] Goolsby’s essay “Firearms and freedom” is flawed.
The senator first notes Gandhi’s endorsement of violence in defense of oneself and one’s family. That endorsement does not imply that Gandhi would approve of the idea that citizens should have access to all the types of firepower available to civilians in this country.
Goolsby further notes that we don’t restrict the use of cars simple because drunk drivers cause fatal collisions with school buses, and we don’t restrict the use of gasoline just because terrorists can use petrol bombs to kill people. So, he asks, why do we, in the wake of a massacre such as the one in Newtown, “always hear the hue and cry for gun bans?”
Well, there is no hue and cry for the banning of all guns; the hue and cry is for the banning of attack weapons designed to kill lots of persons in a very short time.
The American culture is adjusted to customary uses by the general public of cars, gasoline, and guns. But if ordinary citizens were able to buy tanks, the first collision between a tank and a school bus would raise a hue and cry to disallow the sale of tanks to the general public. A similar hue and cry would quickly arise if civilians were allowed to purchase the explosives used by our military forces. In my opinion, the general public does not need to be able to use tanks, bombs, or attack weapons.
Allen C. Dotson
Laurinburg
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Where does it say a thing about hunting? Almost all of these heinous crimes have been committed with stolen guns. Taking guns away from responsible citizens will do nothing to curb crime or murders. Look at the statistics and see when these mass shootings started. They started when all of these gun free zones were instituted. Gun free zones are filled with defenseless victims and the criminals know it. The Aurora killer had theaters closer to his home but chose the one he did because it had posted no gun signs, the others did not. Murder is already illegal, do you really think creating another law is going to do anything? Criminals don't follow the law, hence why they are criminals.
Compare the amount of gun crimes committed by CCW holders compared to the general population and tell me that responsible gun owners are the issue.
Charles Walters