Tighter Regulations Will Not Prevent Criminals From Illegally Accessing Guns
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
In response to Sarah Kaplan’s letter to the editor in the May 7-13 edition (“Lawler’s Advocacy for Minimal Gun Regulations Isn’t Strong Enough”), why do you believe that additional licensing will reduce violent gun crime? In many states you need a license to own or carry any kind of a handgun, yet that does not change the ability of the criminal to obtain them. Once again, the criminals will always have access to illegal weapons. That will never change. The legal gun owners are not the problem and additional regulations will not change that.
If you investigate the incidents of mass shootings, you will find that in so many cases the perpetrator had many red flags that were not followed up on by the authorities. If they purchased the firearm legally, they should not have been able to if the background information of the individual had been inputted into the FBI’s NICS database, but that was overlooked. The laws are there, they just are not being used by the authorities.
Now for the ability to sue the gun manufacturer if their product is used in a crime. Shall we also sue the ammunition manufacturer? How about the gun shop that sold the gun, even if it was legally purchased and the transaction was a legal one? Do you want to be able to sue a knife manufacturer if their product was used in a stabbing? How about suing a company if their alcohol was consumed by someone and they kill someone with their vehicle? Then we may as well sue the merchant who sold it to them? And we might as well sue the vehicle manufacturer while we’re at it since they made the car, and the dealer who sold the car. I never hear about any of this, only about the gun manufacturers.
Now, in the interest of brevity, I will not go on to address the additional concerns item by item. I will, however, state that Rep. Mike Lawler is not out of touch with the values and priorities of a majority of Putnam County residents, only those uneducated in the facts about gun crime.
Remember, the first thing a government does when they want to take control is outlaw gun ownership, and they start a little at a time. By the time people see what is being done, it is too late.
Don’t take this lightly. Search out and talk with legal gun owners. We love to discuss the facts and help people understand the responsibility that comes with legal gun ownership.
Ray Rau
Brewster
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