Gun Control issue long, involved
Originally published: July 03. 2009 3:01AMLast modified: July 02. 2009 10:06PM
Dear Editor:
Recent articles appearing in this newspaper have caused me to think that The Daily Times is not a fan of the 2nd Amendment.
The first article expressed scorn that our state legislature had passed a law which would allow citizens, with a permit to carry a handgun, to carry it into a "bar." That sounds reasonable to me except for the fact that the definition of a "bar" is any establishment that serves alcohol. I do not consider the Texas Roadhouse or Subs & Such to be a "bar." A fairer description would be "restaurants and bars" but "bars" sound worse so the anti-gun zealots use it.
Following that article, a "Letter to the Editor" appeared which caused "The Times" to back peddle and claim that they were only criticizing the possibility of carry permits being issued to the wrong people. I must have missed that point in the Times first article.
Another article appeared on June 24 which claimed that the USA is morally irresponsible for exporting handguns into Mexico and Jamaica. "Bad guys" are killing "bad guys" in those countries with guns - sounds good to me but I don't agree with the premise that most of the guns are coming from America. I have heard this argument before and I have read that the actual number of guns coming from America is around 17 percent and not the 90 percent claimed in the article.
The article quotes a report from the GAO (investigative arm of Congress). Who controls Congress? Could it be the anti-gun 'Democrats?' The key words in their report are "seized and traced." They fail to mention how many of the guns "were seized and not traced." If the Mexican authorities seized 20,000 guns but could only trace 10,000 of them and they were all traced to America then the percentage would only be 50 percent. There is a saying that "figures don't lie, but liars will figure." Also, how many of the guns were sent to Mexico and Jamaica illegally by private citizens or criminal elements? That is smuggling - not exporting.
Royal Sargent
203 Heighton Court
Alcoa, TN 37701
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