Are you sure you want to put more guns on street?

Posted 5/16/01

Are you sure you want to put more guns on street?

To the editor:

Just a few points in answer to Bruce Nelsonís article in the May 2, 2001 issue where he mentioned the NRA and his 2nd Amendment Rights.İI start thinking, wasnít it the NRA who insisted it was their 2nd Amendment Rights to have Teflon Bullets put on the market?İBullets that would penetrate a policemanís armored vest.İ I remember some years back, before a Congressional Committee, they were asked about ìWhere is their cut-off for the size of weapon a citizen should be allowed to own,İa 30 cal. machine gun, 50 cal.,İBazooka,İcannon, ect.??îİSeems they had no cut-off.

As far as the right to bear arms go, the courts ruled in the 1930s, I believe, to outlaw sawed off shotguns and Thompson sub-machine guns.İThe military got the ìTommy gunsî, I had one on Midway. The next time I heard about them they were sold to the Chinese and were being used to shoot our Marines in Korea. If you remember, Ruby Ridge started because the guy was selling sawed-off shotguns illegally. Ask yourself if the NRA feels so sure that the 2nd Amendment gives them what they say it does, why have they never taken a case restricting arms to the Supreme Court? The answer to that is, even this most conservative Court would disagree with that. They do not believe the 2nd Amendment says what the NRA is putting out. Somewhere in the 2nd Amendment it says something about a well armed Militia.İThat would be the National Guard, right? Every State has one. If you added up all the people killed by guns in this country in a year, how many years would it take to equal the total dead from Vietnam's War? 1 year, 2 years?? We are talking women and children here, too. Are you sure you want to put more guns on the street?

Thomas L. Hennemann
Rush City