Don’t punish law-abiding citizens
Editor: From the letter of Oct. 11: I thank the writer for his military service. I am also a Vietnam veteran with years of law enforcement experience. I support background checks for firearm purchases and believe fully automatic weapons are for military and police use only.
Another hue and cry is growing for more gun control by various groups including the usual gun-grabbing politicians who despicably exploit shooting incidents to promote anti-gun legislation. It is time to dismiss the stale rhetoric of those who naively push for so-called "sensible gun laws" to reduce gun violence.
Gun violence is simply violence whenever someone harms society by whatever means. It has been hyped that guns cause violence, using this same flawed logic then automobiles cause people to drive drunk and eating with utensils cause people to be fat. The root cause of violence is solely human behavior and not the objects they control.
More gun control legislation is indeed folly — laws are only effective when people obey them. There exists a very tall stack of laws and codes that regulate firearm possession, usage, etc. Sadly, Chicago has very strict gun laws yet had one of the highest, if not the highest, homicide rates in our nation.
Laws did not stop out-ofcontrol drivers from intentionally hitting pedestrians with their cars, stop fanatics from setting off bombs and even more recently attacks with knives. The NRA has been demonized for protecting gun rights under the Second Amendment and filing lawsuits against over-reaching anti-gun legislation, hopefully their efforts continue. Both conservatives and liberals belong to shooting clubs, although fewer in the latter. If society seeks to reduce violence it may have to surrender a few civil liberties, increase budgets for more effective mental health programs that identify those developing a propensity for violence. Passing more antigun laws will not stop those who are determined to harm society or those who lose control and it only serves to further penalize law-abiding citizens. If it matters, I am not a member of any gun organization. DAN SWANSON Lodi