opinion

LETTER: Resisting gun control is for the weak-minded

When it comes to the issue of saving lives all options should be on the table. Anyone who would dare to declare that background checks for gun purchase will not be effective and therefore should not be on the table, makes himself a prophet. One who would consider himself to be a prophet then must be right 100 percent of the time according the Holy Scriptures. Maybe we should call this one prophet Joseph, since he has made such a prophetic declaration in a recent opinion letter.

Would you agree that any measure or effort to keep guns out of the hands of the deranged, criminals, gangs, felons or the under-aged should be welcomed by all people of goodwill everywhere? However, there are some among us who are so paranoid of our own government that they would rather trust un-elected persons, or groups whose sole purpose is to lobby for the greedy gun manufacturers regardless of the consequences.

The NRA’s very purpose for existence is to oppose any and all laws in America governing the manufacturing and sale of firearms, and ammunition, period. The NRA has managed to successfully lobby the Republicans in many states and in Congress to keep the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) leaderless for the past six years. All of this in their misguided attempt to make the government our enemy instead of our protector. They continue to foster their diabolical lie that, “The government is coming to take away your guns.”

Background checks have always been an integral part of our governmental system of protections in the U.S. When we get on a plane, buy a home, borrow money, buy insure and register a vehicle, register to vote, or even stopped by the police, there’s a background check. Every lawful driver must possess a valid driver’s license, so shouldn’t every lawful gun purchaser be willing to endure a background check for the safety of us all? Is driving a car, or getting on a plane, or purchasing a home, or applying for a loan, or registering to vote more important than an innocent life at the hands of a madman with an assault weapon? What’s more important to you, worrying about your gun being taken away by your government or keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally disturbed, gangs or madmen?

Jumping through hoops to keep guns from people that hate children should be welcomed by all of us in society, and not a burden as one writer recently called it. I guess this writer don’t believe that we are our brother’s keepers, or as all American coin currency states, “E’Pluribus Unum,” (Out of many, One.) When any one of us is threatened, all of us are threatened whether we believe this or not.

Gun safety is just that, and no one or group has a lock on the meaning of it. Every person in America has the right to feel safe in his or her home all the time, our constitution guarantees it, “The right to the pursuit of happiness.” If there are no laws governing the manufacture, sale and purchase of firearms, none of us are safe. Our moral and constitutional rights by the First Amendment are then made void by the Second Amendment rights of gun ownership. Shall we Americans then give up our fundamental rights guaranteed in Article One in order to secure and actuate our rights under Article Two of our Constitution?

You and I have a God-given right to live in a safe environment. Owning a gun is also a privilege under this right. However, just as laws are required to insure and protect our rights to liberty, there should also be laws governing our privileges in owning a gun or any weapon of destruction. Think about it; If my individual right to own any type of a gun or weapon supersedes our individual right to be in a safe environment, expecting our families to be reasonably secure in our belief that we will not find ourselves next door to someone with 50 assault rifles and 10 homemade bombs, then our basic rights are forfeited.

The NRA’s intent is to thwart all limitations to magazines, gun ownership, or background checks. They say that no limit on gun magazines or firepower would have made a difference at Sandy Hook, really? Whose side do you think they are on?

Bill Thompson

PISCATAWAY