NRA stands up for our rights

Editor: This letter is in response to a recent article by Ken Bingaman. First, I would like to thank him for his service in Vietnam. I do, however, disagree with his “Time to take action on guns.”

Mr. Bingaman says that politicians should stand up to the NRA. Mr. Bingaman, I am the NRA; I have been a member for over 30 years. As an avid hunter, competition shooter, former police officer and outdoorsman the NRA stands up for my Second Amendment rights when no one else has!

The vast majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens. Most criminals get their guns illegally (theft for example). Yes, there are heinous acts committed with firearms, but so has there been with knives, cars and tire irons.

We live in a supposed free society and not in a police state. Right now we have thousands of laws regarding firearms, none of which is going to stop a determined person from criminal behavior. You would have to totally outlaw all firearms and go door to door to confiscate the ones already out there; are you ready for that kind of police state?

There are, according to best estimates, over 300 million-plus firearms in circulation. Can’t confiscate all of them. I do respect your right not to own firearms, but what troubles me is your comment of “I feel I own nothing that is worth a human life.”

What about your own life; or the lives of your loved ones ? In Lodi, according to their dispatch, the average response time to a 911 emergency call is about 3-5 minutes. That is an eternity in an emergency. Only you, and you alone, are responsible for your safety, not the police, or the government. Firearm ownership is our constitutional right, much to the chagrin of the anti-gunners. KEN WINCHELL Lockeford